Hello, Seattle
by White Firebird
Summary: Sequel to Truth & Consequences. Now that they're together, Sam and Freddie think that nothing can come between them...but life can be very cruel. And the twists that it takes aren't always ones you can see. It's going to be a rainy summer in Seattle...
1. The next day

**Hey everyone, long time no see! I know it's been forever since I last wrote anything or updated anything of mine...but here I am with my newest and latest story. For those of you who read my announcement, you know what this is all about. For those of you who didn't and are new to this story, long story short; it's set after iKiss, Sam & Freddie went through some rough times, it came to a head at their junior prom, but now they're dating and school is about to be let out for the summer. Well, that's about it...here's the opening chapter of this sequel to Truth & Consequences. Hope you all enjoy!**

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"_

The sound of song filled my ears, though it sounded like it was far off, in another galaxy. I felt myself shift around uncomfortably on whatever it was I was sleeping on, wanting to block out the song and continue my fitful slumber. I didn't know how long I had been there, but I didn't care; sleep was all that mattered right now. I felt like I had been dragged through some real tough spot, like a hurricane or whatever, and it also felt like I hadn't slept in days. Mama needs her sleep, and whoever was playing that song needed to stop.

I shifted again, this time onto my side, and it was there that I felt someone or something tugging on my shoulder. I shirked whatever it was away and pulled the blanket that had been covering my body up closer to my face, under my chin, while the song continued to play in the distance. This time, what felt like a hand was on my shoulder again, shaking harder this time. I groaned as I feebly tried to push whoever's hand it was away. Doesn't anyone understand that sleep is a good thing? I turned over onto my back, my eyes still closed, hearing giggling. Whoever this was had better have a good reason for waking me from my dream land.

My eyes snapped open and I saw Carly hovering over my body, her hand covering her mouth as she tried to suppress her giggle fits. What was going on? Why is she staring at me like I'm some national treasure or something?

"Carly…what…are you…doing?", I managed to stutter out, trying to go back to sleep before it was too late.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it, but I just had to wake you up", she said, sitting down on the end of the couch, where my feet had been splayed a few seconds ago. I slowly pulled myself into an upright position, using my elbows to prop my body up as I gave her a quizzical look. What could she possibly be talking about?

"You had to wake me up for what reason? No offense Carls, but if this has something to do with Spencer setting something else on fire, wait till the morning to tell me, alright? Mama needs her sleep", I murmured, slowly placing my head back on the pillow, my second attempt at trying to go back to sleep.

"No, it's nothing like that. And it's eleven in the morning, Sam. You've been asleep since the moment you stepped foot in here last night", my best friend spoke softly, that smile of hers not once leaving her lips as I tried to decipher the look on her face. Was she happy? Did I do something stupid? I couldn't tell. And how the heck did I end up here? And **I missed breakfast!?!**

"Okay then…besides missing breakfast, what's so important?", I said, getting slightly agitated that I missed out on some bacon and scrambled eggs. She tried to suppress her giggle fits again, but failed miserably, breaking out hysterically.

"Seriously Carls, if you don't stop laughing, I'm gonna go back to sleep", I said threateningly, though I knew I wouldn't be able to. Carly finally managed to calm herself down to the point where she could speak coherently, though knowing her, she was liable to start giggling like mad again. What's got her all happy all of a sudden?

"It's what you said in your sleep. You were sleep talking again", she said, doing her best to keep a straight face, while I gaped at her, horror written all over my features. What did I say? Oh my god, I hope I didn't say anything incriminating or terrible…and why does she find this to be so damn hilarious!? She must have picked up on my mood, because she playfully pushed my shoulder and shook her head.

"Don't worry, you didn't say anything embarrassing, Sam."

"Then what the heck did I say!!?"

"You were talking about Freddie."

I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out. I feel my cheeks redden; I know I'm blushing madly. Carly just gives me that Cheshire cat grin of hers, while I still can't think of anything to say. The events of last night are still fresh in my mind, they give me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. You know, the same kind of feeling I used to hate with a fiery passion. Everything about last night was just so…wonderful. Well, the beginning wasn't like that, and I did cry a lot…but everything Freddie said and did made up for it. And, of course, Carly's plan worked to perfection. I sighed and grinned, thinking about it all. I'll never forget last night for as long as I live.

"What did I say about him?", I whispered as I curled back up underneath the blankets.

"You were saying how much you love him", she said with a smile. I blushed again and looked away, hair covering my face, but I could tell Carly was enjoying every second of this. It was true, though. That boy gets me going. Who'd of thought, huh? Freddie Benson. Three years ago, he was my personal rug for me to walk all over. Now? All he has to do is just look at me and I feel my insides melt away. It truly is amazing how things change over time.

"I speak the truth, Shay. The boy makes me feel really special."

"And I'm glad he does. You should have seen the looks on both your faces last night when you were dancing on the football field. It was so adorable and romantic."

I playfully push my best friend before kicking the blanket off my feet and standing up, stretching my arms and legs out, yawning as Carly stands up and walks into the kitchen, opening the fridge before calling out to me.

"You want some cereal, Sam?", she asked, back still turned as she rummaged through everything looking for some milk.

"I'd eat anything right now…you should have woken me up earlier!", I said jokingly as I finished stretching my arms and sat down on the barstool, waiting for the cereal to appear in front of me. But she turned around and faced me, her lips pouting out a bit as she placed her hands on her hips. "What's the matter, Carls?"

"We don't have any milk", she said as she looked back in the fridge once more to confirm her statement. "Yep, don't have any. You want anything else for breakfast?"

"Just gimme some root beer and I'll make due with that", I said while Carly rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling as she grabbed a bottle of root beer and tossed it my way. A door closed behind me, so I swiveled around to see who it was, and there stood Spencer, decked out in his football gear. We both studied him for a few seconds while stood there, striking his best manly-looking pose. I could hear Carly behind me try her best not to burst out into laughter, but I've got no self control, so I just did it, even though I felt a little bad doing so. But come on, he looks so ridiculous in those pads!

"Oh, thanks girls, that does my self esteem a world of confidence", he mumbled as he grabbed a banana from the basket on the bar and began to peel it open for him to eat.

"Dude, what's with the gear? You getting ready for a war or something? Or are you wearing it as protection from Chuck?", I asked with a laugh while he made one of his many funny faces while taking a bite out of his breakfast.

"For your information, I've got practice, and it's crucial today, because today will see if I get a spot in the starting line-up", he said as he tossed his banana peel nonchalantly over his shoulder, missing the garbage by a few feet. Good thing he never decided to pick up basketball…

"And what are you competing for, starting water boy?", Carly asked, laughing hysterically while Spencer shoved her head lightly, giving her a noogie and sticking his tongue out playfully as she tries to give me my cereal.

"Nope, even better than that, little sis! Coach Harmon said that if I do well at practice today, I might be the second starting wide receiver! Imagine that…Spencer Shay, all pro wide out AND awesome sculptor! I'll be just as famous as you two and Freddie!", he exclaimed excitedly.

Carly and I looked to each other and shrugged our shoulders. Who knew, maybe Spence would do really well on the field and achieve his dream of being a star for the Cobras. Despite the joking we all do, I know that we all believe in him and want him to succeed. He deserves his own little slice of happiness, that's for sure.

After he was done giving his sister her noogie, he turned around to face me and gave me an expectant smile. I knew right there what he wanted to talk about, it was as clear as day and written all over his face. He wanted the deets about me and Freddie and the night we both had last night. His elbows were now propped up on the bar and he was staring right at me, his face mere inches from mine as I slurped down my breakfast. How could I go about explaining the best night of my life in mere words, though? Words that Spencer would understand? I knew it'd be tough to describe my utter elation in such a way, but I had to, somehow. He wouldn't stop staring at me if I didn't say something quickly.

"So you want to know about last night, do you?", I asked as I slurped down some more cereal, while he almost broke his neck nodding violently, muttering 'Uh huh' while I laughed at his childish antics. Biggest little kid I know, and I wouldn't want him to be any other way. "It was nothing special, Spence, really."

"Sam", Carly stated firmly without even looking at me, her back turned as she resumed her rummaging through the refrigerator once more. I rolled my eyes and sighed, but right as I was going to talk about last night, the door to the apartment swung open and in walked none other than my favorite person ever, looking every bit as handsome now as he did last night. Wow. I just called Freddie handsome. And I don't feel like dry heaving. I could get used to this!

"Hey hey hey, people, how goes it?", he asked cheerily as he walked in and took his seat right next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and smiling while Spencer's eyes kind of bugged out of their sockets, like he couldn't believe what he was actually seeing in front of him. Not that I could blame him, though. A year ago, if Freddie tried this stunt, I'd of broken every bone in his arm. And then called him a nub for good measure.

"So it is true, huh?", Spencer asked as he stepped back and grabbed himself a glass, pouring some orange juice into it as he eyed the two of us carefully. Carly looked at her brother with a weird look, but she shrugged her shoulders and resumed whatever it was she doing in the refrigerator.

"Yep, sure is, man", Freddie replied as I finished off the last of my cereal and happily nodded my head, a smile on my lips as I leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "The night started out kinda ok and all, but after your sister here had the Plain White T's perform for us…well, it was for the entire school, but anyone with half a brain knew that the song was aimed at me and Sam here", he continued as he returned the favor by kissing me on my cheek, causing me to blush a little bit.

"It got rocky from there…I won't say what happened…"

"I kinda ran out on him after the song was over and he ran after me to the bleachers", I responded, thinking of the humiliation I was feeling when I did that, not to mention the emotional distraught as well. But it was all fine in the end…

"So yeah, that happened, and…Spencer, are you even paying attention?", Freddie asked as we all faced Spencer and saw him staring at his reflection in his helmet, grinning and mouthing words to himself as if he were Fabio or something like that. He caught on and snapped out of his trance, giving the three of us a guilty look.

"Sorry 'bout that…continue", he said sheepishly, placing his helmet down on the table, his attention back on Freddie and me.

"Well, to make the long story short, we talked, we fought a little, we made up, Carly gave us a dance on the football field, I gave Sam a piggy back ride home, we kissed goodnight, I went home and she ended up here. That's pretty much what happened."

Spencer smiled and then gave the two of us noogies of our own from across the bar, laughing all the way. "Aw, how cute. My little sister's two best friends are finally together! This is cause for a celebration amongst us all…as soon as I return from football practice. Tally ho!", Spence exclaimed as he grabbed his helmet and ran out of the kitchen, into the living room and…face first into the front door. He remained on the floor for a few moments while the three of us all laughed hysterically while he tried to peel himself off the floor, to no avail.

"Oh, your closed", he muttered as he grabbed hold of the doorknob and finally dragged himself to his feet, twisting the door open and stumbling out into the hallway. "Be home…soon, kiddo…don't burn the…house down…while I'm…gone!", he managed to breath out as he disappeared down the hall, our laughter having now subsided as we moved from the kitchen to the living room, Carly closing the door while me and Freddie sat down on the couch, while she sat down next to Freddie and grabbed the remote, flipping on the television to see if there was anything good on to watch. As she looked, she turned to face the two of us.

"Is it weird?", she asked. I shook my head for a second, realizing that she had asked me a question and I had been totally zoning out. Freddie arched an eyebrow at the question posed, then turned to face me, the two of us shrugging our shoulders at the same time.

"Is what weird?", he asked as his eyes grew wide and he pointed at the television. "Ooh, can we watch the computer channel? Please?", he pleaded, before I snickered and flicked him on the ear. Some things will never change.

"No, you silly little tech nerd, we will not be watching the computer channel, because me and Carly don't understand anything they say on it when we do watch it with you", I said in a faux motherly tone, wagging my finger at him and grinning all the way. Carly chuckled and continued to go through the channels, before arriving on the Mexican Dessert channel…so you know my eyes bugged out and I grabbed the remote from her so that nobody could change it.

"You still haven't answered my question", as Carly willingly relinquished control of the remote and became glued to the screen as they made a taco into some sort of sweet looking after dinner treat. "Is it weird?"

I took the question in and thought about it for a second, and then I realized that, duh, she was talking about me and Fredlumps. "By weird, do you mean me and Freddie not insulting each other every waking moment and being nice to each other?"

"You two were being more than nice to each other last night, Sam", Carly teased as she reached across and poked me in the arm. "You two were holding onto each other and not wanting to let go."

"Well, your plan made it happen, so you should be happy for us", Freddie murmured, brows arched and a small grin on his lips as he put his arm around my shoulder, an act he wouldn't of dared tried a year or so ago, for fear that I'd bite his fingers off or use his arm as a baseball bat against his head.

"Oh, don't think for one second that I'm not happy for you two, because believe me, I'm ecstatic! It's just…you two aren't finding it hard to not be rude and mean spirited towards each other? Because you're both acting like this is nothing new to you", she spoke as the guys on screen began to turn an enchilada into a donut, or something like that. Hmm. I should make Spencer make that for us all one night…

"Surprisingly, no, I'm not finding it difficult at all, Carly Fries I told the boy here last night that it was fun to make his life miserable at first…now it just sucks. But the nicknames are staying. And who knows…", I said, trailing off, giving Freddie a mischievous look, one he returned with a nervous glance. "Ahh, I'm just kidding, Benson, I'm not gonna make you miserable anymore…unless I'm feeling nostalgic", I said with a faint hint of seriousness, but he took it for what it was and gave me a sly grin, before leaning over and giving me a peck on the cheek.

"Or I could always do that before you try to fill my shampoo bottle with blue cheese dressing again."

"That's not fair…that's cheating", I said jokingly, stealing a quick peck on his lips before turning back to the delicious Mexican dessert plates that were filling the television screen up. "Ooh, that looks so good…"

"So yeah, it isn't really weird at all, Carls. I'm actually getting used to it faster than I expected. Granted, my mom has no idea that Sam's the girl I had been talking to her about for since…well, you know…but she'll find out eventually."

That caught my attention, and not in a good way. I whirled my head to the side to face him, and he gave me a bit of a nervous look, shrugging his shoulders as he tried his best to force a smile out. I never thought about what Mrs. Benson might say if her precious little boy was going out with…me. I've never really cared what she's said or thought about me before, and I shouldn't start now, but everything's different. I'm not the old, bitchy little girl who'd make Freddie's life a living hell because it was easy for me to do. I don't have to hide behind my problems at home and with everything else anymore. I've found a reason to be happy…I can't risk it by letting Mrs. Benson know that Freddie's going out with me. It'd ruin everything I've worked so hard to get…

"You're not gonna tell your mom, are you, Freddie?", I asked a little too timidly for my liking. He looked at me in the eyes, much like he did last night when he wouldn't let me run away from my problems, and I felt my stomach do more flip flops. It was as if he was staring into my soul, and my eyes were the windows. He nodded his head, and I felt a little more uneasy about the situation. How would he possibly go about doing that without her wanting kill someone?

"Whether I do or not, it won't change the fact that you're the one for me. Let her say what she wants, Sam, it doesn't matter to me", he said, his words coming out firm and decisive. "I'm not gonna let my mom stand in the way of you and me."

"Woah, look who grew up overnight", Carly said teasingly at Freddie, standing up from the couch and turning the television off. "Come on, let's go you two."

"Where are we going?", I asked, stretching out my limbs and letting a small yawn escape.

"Upstairs to the studio…we've got a new iCarly to plan out!", she exclaimed, and it dawned on me that I completely forgot all about the reason why the whole drama unfolded in the first place, that being the web show. Freddie nodded his head, like he had been in the know all along, while Carly began the walk up the steps to the studio. I tugged on Freddie's sleeve and he turned around, only to be met with me hugging him.

"That was really nice of you to say that, Freddie. You really think your mom's gonna flip out?"

"Yeah, probably. She's got it in her head that Carly and I are destined to be together. So she may be disappointed that it's you that's won me over and not her…"

Ouch. That hurt a little bit.

"But like I said, I don't care. You're the one for me. That's all that matters."

He hugged me back and we made our way up the steps to the studio. As we bounded up the steps, one right behind the other, I couldn't help but feel that I was the happiest girl in all of Seattle.

After looking into Freddie's eyes and seeing him smile though...I knew I was.


	2. Tell all your friends

**Hola everyone! Here's the second chapter of Hello, Seattle. Big thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited this sequel, I'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter. There's plenty more to come! And as for iSaved Your Life...words can't describe how I feel about that episode. That's all I'm gonna say about it for now. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!**

**I don't own it. So stop asking.**

As I zoomed the camera in on Carly and Sam, I couldn't contain the smile on my lips as I watched the two of them laugh hysterically at the video they had just shown. It felt so good to be behind the camera again after being away for so long. It was like…slipping on an old pair of shoes and being relieved to find that they still fit. It was such a rush doing iCarly again.

"And that, ladies and gents, is why you should never let Spencer and Gibby take care of your pets", Carly concluded, clapping her hands together as Sam pressed the applause button on her remote, the studio filling up with it. I checked the time and gave the girls the signal that the show was just about over.

"Well, that just about does it for this iCarly!", Sam exclaimed, jumping in front of the camera, with Carly joining her in front of the camera as well.

"Actually…there's one more thing that needs to be said before we're clear", Carly said, Sam giving her a skeptical glance. I arched my eyebrows and gave her a look that asked what she was talking about, before I saw her eyes dart back and forth between me and Sam rapidly. I picked up on it and placed my camera down on the cart, before switching to the other camera we use, walking in front of the picture, grinning all the way.

"Sam and Freddie have something to say to everyone, so here they go", Carly said quickly, moving out of the picture, giving the two of us the floor. Sam looked up to me, a little unsure about telling our entire audience about our newfound relationship, but I grabbed her hand and gave her a gentle squeeze, letting her know that it'd be okay. She nodded her head slightly before facing the camera and letting out a deep breath.

"As you all know, me and Sam here are almost always at each other's throats over something. Be it money, pie, the space time continuum…whatever it was, we'd always be arguing. And she'd always make my life miserable by pulling some elaborate prank on me that I thought she could never pull off", I said with a smile, remembering those times. As painful and humiliating they could be sometimes, they were actually pretty funny now that I look back on them all.

"Well, that isn't the case anymore", Sam began, pausing for dramatic effect while she pressed a button on her remote that caused the sound system to unleash a huge gasp. "Now I know what you're all thinking, and well, stop thinkin' stuff! Me and Freddums here don't hate each other, or anything like that. We wouldn't even be here if that was the case. What I want to say is that…", she said, stopping herself short, not wanting to reveal her emotions to everyone on the internet. I gave her another gentle squeeze, letting her know that I'd have no problem revealing the truth to everyone. She sighed heavily and gave me a look of relief. I know that it's very unlike Sam to show her emotions in public very often, save for the few times I've seen her do that, so I don't blame her for not wanting to say anything. But I've got no problem doing so.

"Sam and I have found out a lot of things about each other that I never thought we would ever find out. We've been through some rough spots over the past few months, but we've emerged better off because of them. What me and Sam are saying is that we're going out!", I murmured, smiling while Sam hit the gasp button again, before following it up with cheers, while Carly clapped enthusiastically off camera. I leaned down a little and kissed her hair, causing her to blush, which in turn netted me a light punch to the arm. Well, light by Sam's standards, at least.

"Now that really does it for this iCarly! And congrats to my two best friends, Sam and Freddie, for finding happiness and finally getting together!!", she said, laughing at my plight while I took it in stride as Carly jumped back into view.

"See ya next time! And remember…", she said, looking to Sam to finish the sentence for her.

"Remember what?", Sam said, obviously playing dumb.

"Oh come on Sam, we forgot again!?"

"It looks that way, yeah…that's bad."

"How embarrassing…bye!"

I walked over to my cart and cut the signal, before going and whooping it up with Carly and Sam in the middle of the studio, celebrating our first successful web cast in over three and a half months. We joined in a group hug and held that position for a few seconds before letting go and composing ourselves, falling down onto the various beanbag chairs littered across the floor.

"You know, Freddie", Sam began as she sipped on her bottle of water she had taken from the small table near the tripod, "You didn't need to kiss my hair on camera. Now everyone's gonna think I'm all soft, girly and weak…no offense, Carls", she added quickly after, Carly shaking it off, knowing Sam meant nothing by it.

"You know you loved it, Sam", I said, winking in her direction, causing her to grin and shake her head. "Hey, listen though, I'm sorry. If it made you uncomfortable or feel un-Sam-like, then I won't do it on camera again, alright?", I offered, knowing how much her reputation as a badass chick meant to her.

"It's alright, Fredduccini, don't worry about it. I guess I'll just have to get used to showing my emotions and affections in public more often", she muttered right as Spencer walked into the room, smiling like he had just won the lottery or something like that. We all glanced up at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something to the three of us.

"Why the big smile, Spence?", Carly asked. "And how come you don't look dirty or in pain? I thought the point of football practice was to, well, you know, practice, not look squeaky clean and smiling. That's two days in a row you've come home looking like this."

"I'm the second starting wide receiver!", Spencer exclaimed, thrusting his helmet into the air for added effect. "I didn't even have to practice today or yesterday! Coach Harmon took one look at me and told me I'd be starting come opening day when he made the announcements today. Can you believe this!?", he asked excitedly as we all stood up to give him a big hug and congratulate him on his achievement.

"No, I can't, to be blunt", Sam said honestly, but Spencer knew that she was really happy for him deep down. She broke out in a smile right after she said that, patting her surrogate big brother on the back and giving him another half hug of her own as he did the same.

"We need to celebrate this momentous occasion", I declared, Carly shaking her head in agreement.

"That's not the only thing we need to celebrate, ya little rascals!", Spencer said, ruffling mine and Sam's hair, pulling the three of us into one big, group hug. "I'd say that tonight, spaghetti tacos are in order for dinner, we'll party, and the four of us will celebrate like there's no tomorrow!", he said loudly, before stopping and looking at Carly in a manner that looked like he needed something from her.

"But before we do anything like that, Carly, I need to ask you something."

"What's up, Spence?", she asked, flipping her hair behind her, moving over to my cart to check for any new comments from our fans.

"Coach Harmon asked me if he could speak to you tomorrow at his offices, something about maybe promoting our home games on iCarly, perhaps? He says it'd be great publicity for me and the team, and it'd get you guys a ton more exposure."

Carly gave us a look that asked if she should go through with it. I nodded my head in agreement, while Sam simply shrugged her shoulders, that being enough of an answer for Carly. More exposure for the show, and helping promote Spencer as he lives out his dream? I'd say that's a win-win situation for both the Cobras and us!

"Yeah, sure, I don't see why not. Where are his offices, at the field?", she asked Spence, who nodded his head before taking his shoulder pads off and placing them on the floor, shaking his head all around to straighten out his now long and wild hair. I looked over at Sam, who gave me a look of death before echoing that sentiment a second later.

"Don't even think about it, Freddie", she said sternly, making me chuckle while Carly and Spencer looked at the two of us with weird looks that said 'Huh?'

"What makes you think I'd want to grow my hair out like Spencer?", I asked, and Sam gave me that same look before quickly replacing it with one of light-heartedness as she playfully shoved me, before messing up my hair and making it a mess.

"I don't know…just don't. I like your hair the way it is now. It's…sweetly nerdy", she said a bit bashfully, her cheeks reddening while she looked down at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact with either one of us. I smiled as I took her hand and held it in mine, causing her to look up into my eyes again. I love the way she looks at me like that. It just makes me feel like everything we've been through together is worth it…which it is.

"Sam, really, if you're uncomfortable with displaying your emotions in public, it's alright. Carly and Spencer know the story, you don't need to try and do something that you don't feel right doing", I said in a reasoning tone, hoping she'd get the message. Don't get me wrong, would I like it if Sam showed how much she loved me in public to our other friends here and there? Totally. But I'm not gonna force her to do something that she doesn't wanna do. That's just not how I operate. If she wants to do that, she's going to do it all by herself, on her time, when she's ready to do so. With a little help from the three of us, of course.

"No…it's alright, Freddie. I need to get used to this new adjustment in my life, and I want you to be just as happy as I am. I'll live, don't worry about it. It's just…", she said, trailing off as she looked back down at her feet, Carly and Spencer putting a comforting hand on each of her shoulders as she tried to get the words out as best as she could.

"What is it, Sam?", Carly asked, rubbing her best friend's shoulder, trying to make it easier for Sam to spill whatever beans she's got to spill.

"It's just, you all know what my life is like back home. My mother never told me she loved me, never really has, hasn't really done any of that motherly stuff that parents do for their kids. She never took me to the park, never chased after the ice cream truck with me…no, it was all Melanie this, Melanie that. That's why I've always been so reluctant when it comes to stuff like that…but I wanna change that, starting now", she stated firmly, though her voice cracked and she bit her lip hard to get herself under control.

"It's alright, Sam", I stated softly, rubbing my thumbs on the top of her hands. "You've got me, Carly and Spencer, and that's all that matters."

She doesn't look at me, but she nods her head, and then we're engulfed in a big group hug again. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the four of us were like a family of our own. We've been through so much together, so much more than any four people have ever been through or should ever have to go through…and we've made out pretty good for ourselves every single time.

"So, you kids ready to go downstairs and begin the celebration!?", Spence asked, thankfully changing the subject, picking up his helmet, opening the door to the downstairs, motioning at us with his head to follow him.

"Yeah, we'll be down in a few, just wanna check some of the comments from our fans on the website, see ya down there", Carly called out, but Spencer was already halfway down the steps to the kitchen, probably wanting to take his pads off and get a head start on the spaghetti tacos. "So, what do they say, Freddie? Are our fans excited that we're finally back on the web after being away for so long?"

I scanned the comments and was taken back at how many of them were related to mine and Sam's announcement of us being together. There were a few here and there about the contents of the show, mainly that hilarious video of Spencer and Gibby, but for the most part, they were all about me and Sam. I looked to the girls and then back to the comments, which kept growing in size every time I refreshed the page. I motioned with my hand for them to come take a look, and look they did. Carly's eyes grew wide at the sheer number of them, while Sam stared at the screen blankly, probably unsure of how to take this all in. I refreshed the page once more and the comments tripled. It was quickly getting out of hand, to the point where I began to slightly fear that the server for the site would crash, and the last time it crashed, we lost a lot of features on the site for weeks.

"Wow…I didn't think there'd be so many", Carly said in a trance-like manner, reacting the same way I was, in complete and total shock.

"They must have wanted this to happen for a long time", Sam began as she clicked on one of the comments. "Spider4 says 'It's about time you two finally got together! You two are so cute…hope you both live in peace and happiness!'. And then iCarlyGal says 'Aww, you two are adorable! So glad to see you two together!'. Wow…they're really supportive", she said in a bit of a daze, flattered and flustered at the same time as the comments continued to pour in at an astronomical rate.

"These comments are gonna make the server crash!", I said, rubbing the back of my neck as I read one after another, every single one saying really nice things about me and Sam. God, I know I've said this to myself before, but reading all these comments kinda reinforces the question of how oblivious could I have been to _not_ realize that I was meant to be with Sam, and not Carly, all this time?

"They really love you guys", Carly commented, scrolling up and down the many pages. "See, aren't you glad that you're together now?"

We looked at each other quickly, before we both turned our gaze back to Carly, smiles all around. I nodded my head, while Sam shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. I took notice of this and gave her an incredulous look.

"Oh what, you aren't happy we're together?"

Another shrug of the shoulders. "I'm the dirty blonde that loves meat and beats up nerds. You're the tech monkey who just happens to be a good kisser. Nothing's really changed", she said, pushing me while giving me that trademark Sam Puckett grin, except this time, I'm not fearing for my life when I see it.

"Except this", I said, reaching over and grabbing her hand, pulling her towards me and kissing her full on for a few seconds, before letting go of the kiss. The grin that was on my lips couldn't have been sandblasted off if anyone had tried, while Sam gave me a deadpan look and mouthed _'You'll pay for that later, Fredhead'_, before closing my laptop and making a beeline for the door. You'd have to be dumb to not know what was on her mind at that moment.

"Well, I dunno about you two, but we've got another successful web cast under our belts, Mama's hungry, and I hear Spencer singing his little song. So I'm out", she stated as she bolted out of the studio, closing the door behind her, footsteps echoing in the air as she jumped down them two at a time to get to the kitchen. Carly stifled a chuckle as she looked at the door, turning around to face me as she leaned up against my cart, her arms folded across her chest, blowing a stray strand of her hair out of her face.

I have to admit, looking at Carly right now, I can see why I basically became her unwanted love monkey since the moment I met her. She's beautiful in a lot of ways, and there's a reason why I still put her on a pedestal. It's just not the same pedestal that I had her on when I was obsessively 'loving' her. I realize now that I was never really in love with Carly, and she knows this. I was in love with the idea of loving Carly, because she was really the first girl that ever gave me the time of day back when we first met. Of course, when I first met her, I had no idea that Sam was her best friend…and when I eventually did meet her, I constantly found myself thinking two things…how could Carly stand having such an irresponsible and rude girl like Sam be her best friend…and why did she always pick on me as often as she did?

If I only knew then what I know now.

"So, what's on your mind, Freddie?", she asked, becoming the inquisitive little girl that I so hopelessly chased after for years on end before I finally woke the heck up and finally smelled the roses.

"Oh, you know, nothing much. Just uh…thinking about the past", I said lamely, twiddling my thumbs, becoming that same old shy little geek I used to be when I was always dreaming about becoming Carly's second husband.

"You're thinking about how you used to crush over me and pretend that Sam didn't exist most of the time, aren't you?", she said, hitting the hammer right on the nail. What could I say to that? She's a very smart girl, everyone knows this.

"I just can't believe I 'loved' you as obsessively as I did", I said with a small chuckle, shaking my head in disbelief at the things my younger self did just to be around Carly all the time. Carly smiled, walking forward and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It was never meant to be, Freddie. And I say that in the nicest, most sincere way possible. It would have never worked out between us…we're just different like that, I guess."

"Yeah, I know…at least, I know that now", I muttered, rubbing my neck, my eyes pointed down at the floor. I'm better off though. I really am.

"I can't believe you wanted to be my second husband", she said with a laugh, while I managed one myself. "What ever happened to my first one, anyways?"

"Nothing you can prove", I said coyly, a grin now on my lips while Carly laughed and shook her head. "It doesn't bother you?", I suddenly found myself asking her, wondering where on Earth that question could have possibly came from.

"Does what bother me?", she responded, plopping down on a beanbag chair and turning the monitor on to check the local news. "You and Sam being together while I'm still on the boy prowl?"

"The boy prowl? Is that what you call it now?", I said between chuckles, while Carly rolled her eyes and threw a crumpled up piece of paper at me. I swatted it away easily as the news made a brief mention of how we were back on the air. Yep, that's how popular the three of us are here in good ol' Seattle. We make the local news. We rock.

"It doesn't matter what I call it and it doesn't matter whether or not I have a boyfriend or not. What matters is you two and Spencer", she said firmly, and while I knew that she meant every word, especially in mine and Sam's regard, I just had a feeling that she secretly longed to be as happy as the two of us were now. I couldn't blame her for wanting that. Everyone deserves their own little piece of happiness…and well, Sam and I have each other and Spencer's getting to live a dream of his. She probably feels out of place.

"Carly, I understand that you want nothing more than the three of us to be happy, and we're all grateful for that. You're a great person and an even greater friend, and in Spencer's case, an awesome little sister. But we want you to be happy too. Why don't you ask that dude I saw you talking to the other day if he wants to hang out, maybe catch a movie with you?", I asked, remembering the look on her face when I saw her talking to the dude in the lobby. She shooed him away and her face turned as red as the shirt I had on. It was kinda funny, actually.

"Oh, Griffin? Nah…he'd never want to go out with me. He's too…well he's radically different", she murmured, playing with her thumbs and avoiding eye contact with me.

"Carly, don't talk to me about _'radically different'_. Do you see who I'm with right now?", I asked jokingly. "Sam's and I are about as polar opposites as anyone around. But you know what they say. Opposites attract."

She gave me that look that said, _'Thank you, Freddie'_, in an irritated sort of way. I laughed; I couldn't help but do anything else. She looked cute when she got irritated. And now, I mean cute in a sisterly kind of way, not a 'I want to be your second husband and live with you for the rest of my life' way. That ship sailed a long time, towards a paradise with golden blonde locks and bluish green skies. Oh, and all the bacon and ham you can eat. Wouldn't have it any other way.

"C'mon Freddie, let's go see what's up with Spencer and Sam. Hopefully she hasn't eaten everything in my fridge", she spoke as she stood up and walked out of the studio, my footsteps not trailing very far behind as we left the studio and made it downstairs. To my surprise (and Carly's), we saw Wendy and a few other kids from school in the living room, staring at Sam, then me and Carly, expectantly, like we should have been telling them something the moment we all set foot in the room. Talk about unexpected.

"Uh…hi Wendy", I managed to say without completely fumbling my words.

"Yeah, hi…what brings you all here? Not that I'm not happy to see you all here just standing in my living room, staring at the three of us like we're some three headed gazelle, but why?", Carly said in that freaked out, but not really freaked out sort of way. I'd of laughed, and I'm sure Sam would have too, if the situation was different.

"So is it true?", was all she asked of the three of us. I looked to Sam, she looked to Carly, and Carly looked to me, searching for an answer when the question was so obviously pointed at me and Sam. The three of us then simultaneously shrugged our shoulders at the question.

"Seriously, Sam, Freddie…is it true?", she asked again, though she made the distinction of asking just the two of us this time around. You ever had those dreams where you've developed stage fright, and you have like a million eyes on you? That's how I felt right now.

"Uh…", was all Sam managed to say, blushing madly, hiding her face behind a wall of her hair.

"Yeah, it is", I suddenly found myself blurting out. "I wouldn't have said it on iCarly if it wasn't."

Sam gave me a look that said she was either going to kill me or just not speak to me at all for the rest of the night. Either way, it'd hurt and I'd be apologizing out of my ass. But I found myself giving her a gentle squeeze on the hand again; after all, if she wanted to become comfortable with displaying her real emotions in public, this would be a step in the right direction. I'm not expecting her to wildly make out with me in front of Carly or our friends, but again, if she wants to be able to do this, then maybe she could help me out here…

"It's true, alright", she said a little unevenly. "Me and the dork here are together. Why, you guys got a problem with it?", she said with more confidence now, that Puckett mean streak beginning to shine through just a little bit. Wendy and everyone else shook their heads, which seemed to put her at ease. "Good. Because I wouldn't want to have a problem."

"I just can't believe that it's actually true…", Wendy said in amazement, while everyone behind her muttered the same thing to themselves. "I mean…you two? I thought you two always hated each other?"

"We did. But you can only hate someone so much before you realize that they're really not that bad of a person", I said in complete honesty. "Once you get past the façade and get to know a person and accept them for who they are…the possibilities are endless."

"All I know is that opposites attract", Sam said bluntly. "And we, clearly, are opposites."

"Okay then, well, look at the time, looks like everyone's gotta go, bye!", Carly suddenly said, bursting in and waving her arms around, beginning to usher everyone out the front door, when they clearly didn't want to go. They cried out in protest, wanting to ask more questions, but before long, they were all gone and Carly was slamming the front door shut, double locking it and turning around to face us with an exasperated expression on her face.

"Okay, so maybe telling everyone that you two were together on iCarly wasn't so great of an idea…"

"Hyooo", Spencer sang from the kitchen, walking into the living room. "Who wants some spaghetti tacos!?"

The three of us looked at each other, then to Spencer, and nonchalantly shrugged our shoulders before entering the kitchen, all of us murmuring in agreement that it'd be best to leave that subject alone till we went back to school tomorrow. So what if we told all our friends about our relationship? It didn't matter to me. Let them say what they wanted to say.

I'm happy and in love with Sam. And that's what matters at the end of the day.


	3. Unofficially official

**Wow....it's been so long since I've done anything. I apologize to everyone for doing squat the past couple of months, work has literally been killing me every day. I started this chapter almost 2 months ago...and just finished it this past Saturday. Well, here's chapter 3 of Hello, Seattle (the sequel to Truth & Consequences), and I hope you all enjoy reading it.**

**I don't own iCarly. Dan Schneider does. Lucky man.**

Today's going to be a day unlike any other. Usually, I'd bemoan the fact that school had came and the weekend was far too short. Monday's were (and come to think of it, still are) my worst enemy; I hate facing them, and more importantly, I hate waking up and going to school on Monday's, because they just drag on and on. I may be in the process of changing things about myself, but some things will never change. Which brings me to today and why it's going to be different.

I'm going to ask Freddie to officially be my boyfriend. It probably sounds ridiculously silly and a little childish (at least I think so), but…I've never really had a real boyfriend before. Well, not since that nub Jonah tried to cheat on me with Carly, anyways. I'm not one to open up to anyone and let them past my carefully constructed walls and barriers. Granted, that's a bit hypocritical because I let Carly through with no problem, but the truth is, she's like my sister. She's someone for me to talk to when I need to let out my frustrations and vent. Spencer got an easy pass too, seeing as he's so loveably zany and off the wall, and when he needs to be, he's like…well, let's just say he's a really important figure in my life as well. Freddie, though…he was the one I was determined to never let in, no matter how hard he tried.

It worked for a while. When the three of us started iCarly and became as popular as we are today, he was still Carly's little unwanted love monkey. She could tell him to jump and he'd ask how high. Sometimes he didn't even ask, he just did it. I couldn't stand him and the way he'd constantly fawn over Carly. At first, I just laughed it off and constantly made fun of him for it. I was real vicious back then. Something good would happen to him and I'd just make him feel miserable for even having it happen. I think I made him feel inadequate and unworthy of even being a part of the group. There were times when I thought he'd never want anything to do with me, and Carly by proxy, all because of my teasing. Carly made me feel bad for constantly ripping on him, but in my twisted, warped reality back then, I thought he deserved every bit of pain I threw at him…it was basically my way of dealing with my own pain.

Soon enough though, and I am a little ashamed to admit this, but I began to grow a little envious of all the attention that Freddie showered Carly with. I said I'd never get jealous or envious of Carly over anything, and she said the same thing, but there I was, breaking that promise…the first of many. My hate towards him for invading our friendship soon evolved to wanting him to throw me a bone, so to speak. When Carly ended up going out on that 'date' with Gibby, and I ended up with Reuben (how I hate him) and that little tart Shannon was with Freddie, I just wished he'd of stood up for me or told Reuben to leave me alone. But nope…he was busy trying to deflect all of Shannon's attention, his eyes on Carly the whole time. It bothered me a lot, but I knew that if I tried to be even _somewhat_ nice to him, he'd get freaked out and probably leave…and well, I couldn't really afford to have another person leave my life at that point.

So things stayed the same. Freddie kept being Carly's lap dog, the show got more popular, Spencer became zanier, and I kept wishing he'd treat me as an equal friend. Then I stepped over the line…when I told everyone that Freddie hadn't had a first kiss on iCarly. I regret having ever said that and making his life a living hell like that. But I guess I more than made up for it when I apologized out of my ass and told everyone the truth about me not having my first kiss, either. Then I tracked him down and found him out on the fire escape…**our** fire escape. I'll never, ever forget the taste of his lips on mine when we shared our first kiss together. It was then that I realized that I couldn't keep Freddie on the outside looking in anymore, because I, as I had feared, began to fall for the dork. And that was even before the kiss. There was just something about him that became so suddenly endearing to me. He was changing. He was no longer the little lapdog…he was becoming his own little boy. I just found it so…_cute_…that he wasn't the tech dork who would drop everything if Carly told him to at the snap of a finger. And then he kissed me, and everything changed for the better. Freddie's mine, and mine alone.

As I look into the mirror, I smile, happy with how I'm dressed. I'm wearing the same exact clothes that I wore when me and the little dork first kissed. His jaw will probably hit the floor when he sees me today before first period. The smile on my face won't leave as I imagine what his reaction will be…every time he sees me wear these clothes, he just seems to get all nervous and anxious, and he stutters a lot. It's actually really funny and kinda adorable to see him get whipped up like that all over a headband, shirt, pants and shoes. Despite it being a Monday, today should be great.

Upon exiting my room and silently making my way down the steps to the front door so I can catch the bus, I glance over into the living room and see that my mother is…passed out on the couch again, with her customary bottle of cheap vodka hanging loosely in her hand. I shouldn't be surprised to see this, but truthfully, I am a little bit. A large part of me wishes that she'd just go back to the way she was before Daddy left…but that'll never happen. She doesn't want to change. She really thinks it's alright to get hammered every night and have a new boyfriend every week. Sure, I make jokes about it to Carly and Freddie all the time, but deep down, she really scares me. I think she's on the road to utter destruction, and try as I might sometimes, there's no way I can possibly help her. I've exhausted every method in the book, and none of them work. There's no hope for my mother anymore, it seems.

I just don't want to end up like her. That's why I'm asking Freddie to be my boyfriend. He's my life preserver, so to speak, and I never want to let him go. Ever. I know it's a lot to ask of just one person, to be like my guiding light, especially when we're still in high school but…I've never, truly felt like this for a boy before. And though it's probably really near-sighted of me to say so, but I may never feel like this for another boy ever again. God, I sound like someone else. I'm Sam Puckett, I shouldn't be all 'in love' and acting soft and girly. But even the most stubborn of people have to change a little bit here and there, and I'm certainly no exception.

The bus finally arrived as I stepped outside my house and quietly locked the door, as to not wake her up out of her hung over stupor. While I greeted the driver, I could see every pair of eyes inside the bus staring at me like some circus freak. I see every single one of these kids at one point during the day, but none of them are my friends. The only person I actually speak to on the bus is Gibby, and I'm relieved to see him sitting all the way in the back, like he usually does. He waves me over and I uneasily glide my way down the aisle, avoiding eye contact with everyone before finally sitting down next to the shirtless wonder, as I call him. But even after I'm sitting, a few kids don't take their eyes off of me until the bus lurches forward. And it goes without saying that most of those kids staring at me were girls. I can only imagine why.

"What's up, Sam?", he asks calmly as the bus rides along the increasingly bumpy road, hitting a few potholes and jumping up and then back down violently. Now it's me that's the one staring at everyone, at the back of their heads. I momentarily stop to look over at Gibby, offering him a quick smile before answering.

"Nothing much, Gibson. Just trying to figure out how many of the girls here are jealous of the fact that Freddie's in love with **ME** and not any of **THEM**", I say, making sure to add a ton of emphasis to the words 'me' and 'them', because that's all they are; green with envy. I feel my confidence return quickly as a few of them turn around and shoot me dirty looks, while some of them just shake their heads in disgust as the bus continues to roll on, with Gibby managing to stifle a laugh at my answer.

"Ahh forget them, Sam, you don't need 'em. You know they're all jealous", he says, patting me on the shoulder. "That's all they've been talking about since I got on here; how Freddie chased after you on the night of the prom, how you two admitted that you two are in a relationship on iCarly last night, everything. They can't get over the fact that Freddie loves someone who's his complete opposite. Most of 'em thought that he'd go for someone like them, or like Carly…all sweet and girly and innocent and stuff. It was pretty humorous to listen to."

I smile again at the words Gibby says. If you told me three years ago that all the girls at Ridgeway High would be jealous of me over something like this, I'd of jack slapped you and then stolen your lunch money. And then probably laughed in your face for good measure, too. Now? I just gotta enjoy the ride and show all these little prissies what they're missing out on…oh yeah, Mama's definitely got the winning hand here.

"Yeah, they're all just a bunch of desperate little girls who wish they were as awesomely awesome as I am. I can't blame them, though. I'd be jealous of me too", I say with a laugh, while Gibby joins in as well, the bus finally stopping in front of the school, where I'm sure to be met with even more dirty looks and sneers from all the girls at school. I'm sure they're even giving Carly crap too. Mama might have to get a little violent if any of those jerks are saying stuff to her, though. Carly's got nothing to do with me and Freddie being in love with each other, other than the fact that she's the one that pointed us in the right direction, like a real, true best friend would do. So they better be leaving her alone.

"How bad do you think it's gonna be, Sam?", Gibby asks as we step off the bus and make our way into the halls. Almost immediately, I'm met with a bunch of looks from almost all of the girls, even the freshmen and seniors. Part of me just wants to stand in the middle of the hall with a megaphone and pronounce my love for Freddie in front of everyone, but like I reminded myself…one step at a time. I'll eventually break out of my shell.

"Oh, I dunno Gibby…doesn't really matter to me, though. Let them say what they wanna say. It won't bother me one bit", I say confidently as we reach the middle of the hall. Gibby shrugs his shoulders and then waves goodbye as he goes off to his locker. I turn to my left and see Carly standing by our lockers, wearing a welcoming smile. I walk over and high five my best friend before diving head first into a conversation.

"What's up Carly Girl", I say cheerfully as we do our double secret best friend hand-slap, fist bump greeting that we've been doing since we were kids. After completing it, she shrugs her shoulders, glancing over my shoulder at a few girls who are probably staring at the two of us with contempt. God, these girls are pathetic.

"Nothing much, Sammy. Just been deflecting rude comments about you, Freddie and me since the moment I walked in. Seems the three of us got extra popular amongst the girls of Ridgeway over the weekend", she remarks, shaking her head as a few more walk by and mutter stuff under their breath. I turned around to look at them, but they scurried off down the hall before I could even fire back a retort. So far, no sign of Freddie, but that's fine, I could use a little girl talk right now.

"I got the same treatment on the bus ride here earlier. Looks like we're public enemies one, two and three, huh Carls?", I ask jokingly, shaking my head as I look out at the openness of the halls, all these girls suddenly becoming jealous of the fact that Freddie found love. Carly nods her head before she speaks. "And you know what's even sweeter about this? They can hate on the three of us all they want for whatever reasons they've got, and they'll still watch iCarly", I say, grinning at that fact while Carly nods and agrees before speaking again.

"You know what I don't get, though?", she says as she slings her bag over her shoulder, closing her locker and twisting the lock. I shrug my shoulders and ask her 'What?' with my facial expressions. "I don't get that when Freddie was all over me, so to speak, and constantly wanting me to fall in love with him, none of these girls were jealous of all the attention he gave me", she murmurs while I bite my tongue and keep my secret of being a little jealous of her at that time to myself. "But the moment he falls in love with you, they reject it and act like you're the Anti-Christ or something like that. It's ridiculous and kinda sad, to be honest."

"What, them turning a blind eye to Freddie's affections for you all that time, or the fact that they're all mad that **I, SAM PUCKETT**, ended up with Freddie in the end?", I say, milking the hatred being sent my way and shoving it back in everyone's face. "It doesn't bother me, Carls. If anything, they can all commiserate together even more at the end of the day", I say, giving a little lead in to my big plan, but Carly being the smart girl that she is, immediately picks up on what I'm going to say and lets out a big squeal of excitement, before lunging at me and tightly wrapping me up in a huge hug.

"You're gonna ask Freddie to be your boyfriend today after school, aren't you!", she exclaims, before lowering her voice, not wanting anyone else to pick up on it. "That's so awesome, Sam! I'm so happy that you're gonna open all your doors and completely let Freddie in. I'm really glad for the both of you. He's gonna love it and he's gonna say yes after he picks his jaw up off the floor."

I smile as I return the hug and wrap my own arms tightly around Carly. She's right, I begin to think to myself. Freddie's jaw probably will drop straight to the floor again when I ask him, after it drops when he sees my clothes, and when he's done picking it up for the last time, he'll say yes faster than I can pick a lock or eat an entire ham.

"You're probably right, Carls. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I ask him", I remark as I open up my locker and throw all my unused books into it, before grabbing a bag of bacon and slamming it shut. Carly just shakes her head and laughs as I tear into my favorite food product not named ham or beef jerky. "I hope he makes that little confused face he has whenever you ask him something he doesn't understand. I used to find that look so annoying, but now it's just so…endearing. Speaking of which, have you seen him at all this morning?"

She shakes her head, and my hopes fell a little, but it's nothing. He's probably getting a ride from his crazy mother, who likes to drive at a snail's pace. Except a snail is probably faster than her. "No, I haven't. I think he got a ride from his mom, and we all know how she is when she's behind the wheel of a moving vehicle", Carly murmurs, mimicking a turtle by walking really slow across the hall, which got a laugh out of me. "He'll be here, don't worry. How're you gonna go about asking him, though?"

I hadn't really given much thought to that, now that she mentions it. I just thought that asking him would be sufficient enough, but if I told Carly that, she'd freak and then tell me what I should do instead. So I just shrugged my shoulders and offered up nothing in the form of a verbal answer. She frowned when I did this, and I knew that the gears in her head were already turning, so I stopped her before she could say anything.

"Carly, it's fine, don't worry about it. You've helped out so much already, you don't need to do anything else. I don't know how I'm gonna go about that, but I'll figure something out over the course of the day. Gives me something to do instead of pay attention in math."

She rolls her eyes at me and gives me that look, the one that says 'You're slacking off in math again!?'. I just nod my head and then she gives me the motherly look that she's perfected by now. Now it's me who's rolling my eyes, but underneath, I'm thankful for the fact that Carly's so level-headed like that. Lord knows what I'd be doing right now if she wasn't my best friend and always keeping me in check.

"Oh you know me and numbers don't get along, Shay. I don't know why you keep insisting that I pay attention in that class…have you seen Mr. James teach? He's a robot that was designed to bore us all to death!", I exclaim, throwing my arms into the air for emphasis as the warning bell for home room rings, all the kids scurrying off down the halls to get to their classes. I sigh as Carly tugs on my arm and begins to walk me in the direction of our class.

"But I don't wanna go to class, Mommy", I say mockingly as Carly manages a small smile as we get closer to the door of Ms. Briggs room. "Seriously, who thought it'd be a good idea to give the both of us Briggs this early in the morning?"

"I don't know, but complaining about it isn't going to help, Sam", Carly said as she opened the door and entered, dragging me behind her like a disobedient toddler who'd rather be anywhere but here. But as I reluctantly sat down in my desk and watched Ms. Briggs enter the room in her usual sour mood, I realized that not even she would ruin this day for me.

It's going to be perfect.

* * *

Lunch time is finally upon us. I thought I'd never get here after all the boring drabble I had to suffer through in all my classes. Luckily though, I managed to avoid getting detention…so far. Me, Carly and Wendy take our usual spot in the back of the cafeteria, waiting for Gibby and Fredalupe to join us. I was right about Freddie; when he came to say hi and give me a quick peck on the cheek earlier, his jaw dropped when he saw my clothes. I knew he'd react that way. Meanwhile though, Carls and Wendy are animatedly chatting it up over our last iCarly, specifically the segment where Spencer and Gibby pretty much tortured those poor pets when we left them alone in the studio, while I'm sitting silently, devouring my chicken nuggets and tater tots like a caveman would a rock or something....I don't know what they ate for food back in those days.

"So Sam", Wendy says, turning her focus to me. "What's it feel like to be hated by almost all the girls in our grade?"

I couldn't help but smile after hearing that. I finished chewing and swallowed my food down, before sighing and brushing aside a blond lock. Carly gave Wendy a look that I couldn't quite decipher; either she was worried about what my answer be, or she was shocked that Wendy would ask such a thing. I didn't care, really. Wendy's the big gossiper of our grade, but she's a good friend, so what's it matter if she asks me a question like that? I hate gossipers, but Wendy…she's the exception.

"Well, Wendy Clear", I begin saying, dropping the nickname I gave her when we first became friends. "I could care less about what they think. Most of them didn't like me to begin with because of who I am and what I do, and for iCarly, and now I've pretty much given them carte blanche to hate me all they want."

"Who hates you?", a familiar voice asked. I looked up to see Freddie and Gibby, lunch trays in hand, arriving at the table. He leaned over and placed a kiss on my cheek before sitting down next to Gibby, across from me, Carly and Wendy. He smiled at me before reiterating his question. "So, what about someone hating you?"

"Oh, just about every girl in our grade", I commented as I ate another chicken nugget. "You didn't notice anyone give you funny looks today when you got to school?"

"Now that you mention it…girls have been looking at me like they feel sorry for me, or whatever. Like with pity. Some of them have been giving me the dirtiest looks, though. I wonder why", he said.

I gave him a look that said, 'You're kidding, right?', before I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. Freddie gave me that confused look of his, wondering what he said wrong as he munched on his own lunch. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gibby slightly nudge him in the arm, motioning with his head towards me, and suddenly, the little techie finally got what I was talking about.

"Ohh…because we're seeing each other. Yeah, that makes sense then", he muttered while I nodded my head, a look on my face that said, 'Duh'. "I'm sorry, Sam. I should have realized that's what you were talking about sooner."

"It's alright, Freddie", I said softly as I finished off the last of my lunch and threw everything over my shoulder nonchalantly, causing Carly to give me that look of hers when I do something I shouldn't. I shrugged my shoulders while Wendy snickered. "It doesn't bother me, though. Let them all whine and moan like little girls. I enjoy seeing them act so jealous."

"It is funny, I will admit", he commented as he ate away at his lunch. "Never thought I'd see the day where girls were jealous of you, Sam."

"Yeah well", I began, "When you're involved with the hottest boy in the 11th grade and he's the technical producer of the biggest show out there on the web, not to mention you're one of the stars of said show and is totally awesome…it's hard not to be jealous", I said, winking at Freddie while he blushed and everyone else at the table laughed at how over the top I was being with my dialogue.

"Oh Sam", was all Carly said as she finished the rest of her lunch and packed up the remnants all tidily and neatly.

"Oh me", I said as I smiled and stood up with the girls and prepared to head to study hall. Well, Carly and Wendy were headed to study hall; I was just skipping history and didn't want to hang out in the gym by myself. But before we left, I turned around to face Freddie, knowing that I had to give him a little something to go on about later today.

"Hey Freddie."

"Yeah, Sam? What's up?"

"What are you doing after school?"

"Nothing as far as I know."

"Meet me at my locker…there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What do you need to talk to me about?"

"You'll see when you get there. See you then."

I turned around, my blond mane bouncing as I did, and right there, I knew that I had Freddie right where I wanted him. I couldn't see the look on his face, but something told me I didn't need to. He was probably scratching his head, asking himself what was up with me, or something like that. I know how he works. And if I know him as well as I do, his jaw will be on the ground again when I tell him. Just like I predicted.

* * *

The rest of the day was a blur. Spanish came and went, I slept through history, and the only thing I remember from gym was nailing one of Jonah's lackey's in the face with a football. All of my thoughts are on this moment. I'm walking down the hall towards my locker. I see Carly at her own, putting her books away and throwing stuff in her bag. She looks over at me and smiles; she knows that this is it. I stop to deposit all my things into my locker (who does homework, really?), and without even saying anything, Carly gives me a hug and a nod of the head, before leaving. The halls have cleared out, and only a few kids remain behind. I can see Freddie off in the distance, looking around for me expectantly. Slowly, I begin my walk over to him. This is it; the big moment. I'm never one to admit this, but right now, I've got more than my fair share of butterflies fluttering around inside me right now. I've kept my eyes on the floor; I feel like if I make eye contact with Freddie, my usual steely resolve will melt away and I'll be a stuttering blond-haired mess.

"Hey you."

I jerk my head upwards and find myself staring right into Freddie's eyes. He's got that grin of his plastered on his lips, the same grin I used to hate so much so long ago. I'm feeling the stuttering coming on in a big wave, so I bite my lip and offer up a feeble wave and way too girly giggle. God, the things that this boy does to me.

"So, what'd you want to talk to me about? Need to copy my homework for everything again?", he asks, putting his arm around my shoulder, slowly leading me down the hall towards the doors. I shook my head and he frowned a bit. "Then what'd you need to talk to me about, Sam? Did you make Carly vandalize something with you again?"

I shook my head; we stopped short of the doors, right under the annex. I looked up and laughed on the inside at the irony of this; it looked like I was going to ask him to marry me. Which I kinda was. Well, not really. Though idealistically, when we both get old enough and if we're still together, which I think (more like hope) we will be, then I'd definitely marry the dork. I wouldn't even think twice about it. He wouldn't even have to get on his knee or even give me a ring; I'd just say yes and jump into his arms.

"It's more important than any homework assignment, Freddie. It's even more important than what we're gonna do for the next iCarly. Let me start by asking a question…you know how hard it is for me to…accept people, right?"

"You mean let your walls down and let people see the real you, to trust them?"

"Yeah, exactly. It was never an issue with Carly and Spencer. They're like brother and sister to me, so I had a very easy time trusting them once I got to know them both. But you…"

"I know…we weren't exactly the best of friends a while back. I can understand that you didn't trust me at all, and I can also understand if you still don't trust me that much. I'm not mad about it."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Freddenstein."

His eyebrows arch up, obviously not expecting this little twist. He's speechless for the moment, so I press on.

"You see, as I've gotten to know you, I've slowly realized one thing. You're a really good kid, Benson. I could send your cell phone to Cambodia and you'd still have my back if anything ever happened to me. I put bleu cheese dressing in your shampoo bottle, and you still let me borrow your homework every day. I called you every name in the book, and that still didn't deter you."

"Not to sound rude, Sam, but what're you getting at?"

"What I'm getting at, Freddie…is that I finally can fully trust you. I've never, ever let a boy see this side of me. Most didn't even think it existed, but it does, as you obviously know now. It's because you knew how to handle me, how to treat me…whether you denied it or not, you treated me with a certain respect, and I loved that. I still do."

"So…you trust me now? Like, one hundred percent? Like you do Carly and Spencer?"

I nod my head, maybe a little too eagerly for the moment, but I get the point across. Now comes the really hard part.

"I do. Which leads me to my question…willyoubemyboyfriend??"

I clamp my jaw shut and stare wide eyed ahead, not believing that I just botched that so badly. What a fail on my part. Freddie's staring at me like I've got three heads, and right now, I probably do. Part of me just wants to walk away and pretend that didn't happen, but before I can even turn my foot, Freddie's grabbing a hold of my arm and looking into my eyes, all sincere and lovingly and whatnot. I feel my stomach do a flip. Is this what love is really like? Because I…well, I love it.

"Did you just ask me to be your boyfriend?"

I feebly nod my head; it's all I can do right now. I've lost all ability to speak in a coherent manner.

"Did Sam Puckett just ask me, Freddie Benson, to be her boyfriend? After all the years of physical and emotional abuse, did she really just lower her barriers and put her full and undivided trust into me?"

This wasn't what I was expecting; he's mocking me. I had a feeling that this would be a bad idea, despite what I wanted to believe. I begin to turn away; I feel like I just wasted my time and made myself to look like the biggest idiot in all of Seattle.

"Forget this…I knew I shouldn't of said anything", I say, pulling away from him, starting to walk away before he places his hand on my shoulder, turning me back around.

"Listen Freddie, if you're not going to take this--", was all I managed to say before I felt his lips upon mine. I tried to speak, but the words were muffled and finally, I just melted into his embrace as we stayed like this for close to a minute. As we released, he grinned while I was breathing heavily. He nodded his head before pulling me into a hug.

"Yes, Sam. I thought you'd never ask. I'd gladly be your boyfriend. Thanks for wanting to be my girlfriend."

I don't remember most of the rest of the day except for walking home with him, sneaking past Mom to get to my room, and listening to this song by Paramore that pretty much summed up everything that had happened today.

_Things are looking up, oh finally._

_I thought I'd never see the day, when you'd smile at me._

_We always pull through, oh when we try._

_I'm always wrong but, you're never right, oh you're never right._

_Honestly, can you believe we crossed the world while it's asleep?_

_I'll never trade it in, cause I've always wanted this._

_It's not a dream anymore, no oh._

_It's not a dream anymore, it's worth fighting for._

I fell asleep with a big smile on my lips, knowing that the boy of my dreams was mine…all mine.


	4. Enchilada of freedom

**Hola, everyone! Miss me? I know that I missed you all! Anyways, as I said in the one-shot I posted recently (Golden Blonde Heaven, go check it out!), I haven't had much time to write, but now that I've got a _little_ free time on my hands, I was able to finish everything up and post chapter four here! Thank you all for being so patient, and I promise, I won't keep you hanging as long as I did. Well, here's chapter four of Hello, Seattle!**

**And no, I still don't own the show...**

"Can you believe that geek Benson got with Puckett? What a load of crap. He's not worthy of her."

"Did you hear? Gay boy Benson's got himself a girlfriend. The kid is such a flamer, yet he's with Sam Puckett. Unbelievable."

"I'm so much better looking than him. How could she choose that fugly tech stooge over someone like me?"

Yep.

That's pretty much everything that I've been hearing from all the boys at school ever since word leaked out that me and Sam were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Just started like that, too. Not one dude said a word about me immediately after prom. Now everyone dude hates me. I think it's sad that they're all reacting the same way, but I'd be lying a little bit if I said that it didn't bother me. I know that Sam's just ignoring everything that's said about her by all the girls, but I'm not Sam, and I can't ignore stuff like this so easily. I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. It's a little hypocritical, seeing as I tell Sam to ignore all of it, and she actually listens, but why can't I listen to myself? I don't know.

"So wait, how many viewers did we get again last week, Freddie?"

My mind is taken off those thoughts as I open my laptop and begin to search for the numbers. 950,000 viewers. Amazing. The only other webcast that comes anywhere close to that number is the one where we had Principal Franklin emerge from a giant pair of pants and willingly sit on Fudge Balls, and even then, we got only 900,000 viewers. _Only _900,000. I say that like getting that many viewers each week is nothing big.

"950,000 on the dot, Carly. Pretty impressive, isn't it?"

The girls look at each other with bewildered excitement. 950,000 viewers to the two of them is some really huge chiz. They squeal happily and begin hyperventilating, or something like it, talking in rushed breaths about how awesome it is that we've gotten this popular, even after our little self imposed hiatus. They look so cute when they get like this, I must admit.

"Seriously, man! 950,000 viewers! Holy chiz, that's like…more than triple what we got when we first started doing this! That's so awesome!"

"Remember how excited we got when our first webcast got 37,000 viewers?"

The girls stop for a moment, reminiscent looks in their eyes as they remember a time that, in reality, wasn't too long ago. But it feels like it's been decades since that moment in time. Back then, 37,000 viewers was huge, like monolithic. Now? We get that many hits to the homepage in the span of three hours. It's amazing how fast something catches on if people like what you do every week.

"We've all come a long way in just two years", Carly says, giving me and Sam knowing looks. "More so you two than anything. I don't think I've ever seen two people go from hating the mere sight of each other to all in love…and stuff", she says with a smile, Sam shooting me a look while I shrug my shoulders and smile back at her.

"Well you've changed a lot too, Carly Girl", Sam begins saying, picking at her popcorn. "You don't get so easily whipped up about stuff like you used to two years ago. And Spencer's changed too. I mean, look at him. Two years ago, the thought of him playing football would have made anyone laugh. Now he's actually starting for the Cobras! That's what's up", she said before the door to the studio swung open, revealing a frustrated looking Spencer.

"Hey Spencer", Carly calls out as he enters the room and flops down on one of the bean bag chairs, trying his best to hide his dejection. He brushed his hair back and looked at the three of us, offering up only a faint smile in response as he lays there, looking up at the ceiling.

"What's the matter, dude?", Sam asks as she scuttles over next to her surrogate big brother, placing a hand on his. He looked at her and shook his head, not wanting to talk about it, but that wasn't gonna fly with Carly or Sam. I remained silent, though, probably because I'm just used to not prying into other's business unless it somehow involves me.

"Ah, nothing. Just had a bad day at practice again, that's all. Nothing to worry yourselves over", he says reassuringly, but you can read Spencer like a book. The three of us looked to each other and knew what was up right away.

"Spencer", Carly said in that motherly tone of hers, giving her older brother a stern look while he shook his head and waved her off. He began to stand up, but before he reached a vertical stance, Sam jerked his arm and he fell back down onto the bean bag chair in a heap. "If something's bothering you, big brother, then don't walk away from us. Who else are you gonna talk to about stuff if you do that?"

"There's always Socko…", he said meekly, coiling up in the chair with six pairs of eyes on him. I turned away though, because my phone began to beep; another text from my mother…fun.

"C'mon dude, just talk to us and spill the deets. What happened at practice today?", Sam asked as she ripped open a bag of beef jerky and began to devour it with the ferocity of a carnivore.

"I don't wanna", he whined, once again trying to stand up, but once more getting tossed back down by Sam, who did it so effortlessly that she didn't miss a beat in eating her entire bag of beef jerky in less than two minutes.

"Spencer…"

"Coach kept me on the bench all day, then raved about how I was the future of the team. But then when I asked how I could be the future if he never lets me practice or scrimmage or play or anything, he wigged out on me and sent me home. There, happy now?"

Carly reached over and placed a comforting hand on Spencer's shoulder, while Sam and I gave each other skeptical looks. That does seem odd of his coach to do that. But the thought is pushed from my mind when I look down at my watch and notice that I need to get back home.

"Hey Carls, don't you need to go meet with Coach Harmon to discuss the matter of promoting Cobra's home games on iCarly?", I ask, standing up and grabbing my things off my cart.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I should now", she murmurs, looking to Spencer, who shakes his head and stands up as well.

"Nah, don't let what happened to me today deter you from doing that. I'm sure it was all just…some big misunderstanding. And besides, if it helps the show, then I'm all for it. So go ahead, kiddo, I'll be fine", he says, ruffling Carly's hair and placing a kiss on her forehead before exiting. "I'll be downstairs thinking of ideas for a new sculpture, so if you need me, don't look for me."

"You'll be in the shower then?", Sam asks, throwing her bag of beef jerky away.

The slamming door was all the answer we would get as Spencer's footsteps rang in the halls. She shrugged her shoulders as she too stood up and stretched her limbs, before looking at me like she wanted me to go somewhere with her. Would I rather do that? Yes. Can I? No. Can't break _this_ promise Mom, not after breaking off plans three times prior to hang out with Sam.

"Yeah, I should get going then. You two coming?", she asks, grabbing her coat and purse off the hooks in the corner. Sam shakes her head while I do the same, putting my phone in my pocket while Sam cracks her back, which, by the way, still creeps me out, the way she does it.

"Nah, we're gonna go hit up Groovy Smoothie and then probably catch a movie, right Benson?", she asks, motioning with her head in the direction of the elevator, waiting for me to take her arm and be on our merry way.

"Sorry Puckett, no can do today. I gotta do some stuff with my Mom, I promised her I would this time around", I say, watching the glimmer faint a little bit in Sam's eyes before that mischievous grin of hers surfaced on her lips.

"No, Sam, I can't just make some wild excuse up again to hang out with you. I've been ditching my Mom for you for the past two weeks, I can't do it this time."

"Aw come on, Fredhead! Just say you got hit by a taco truck or something, and that I was the only one around and I had to take you to the hospital! She'd buy that!", she whines, throwing her arms up for emphasis. "I mean, c'mon Freddie, she'd totally go for that angle. Then we can go do whatever we want!", she says, walking up to me and beginning to tug on my arm.

"First off", I say, getting my arm removed from Sam's grip, "Do you know how badly my Mom would freak out if you told her a story like that? She'd call the friggin National Guard in to make sure I was alright! Just because she's glad that I'm happily in love doesn't mean she's still not aggressive!"

"Freddieeeeee", she said, whining again, giving me her best sad puppy dog face. I grinned and shook my head. "You're no fun anymore."

"I'm sorry, Sam, but I promised. We can go to the Groovy Smoothie and the movies after I'm done, or we could always go tomorrow. Or you could come with me, if you want…", I say, trailing off, waiting to see her face twist up with disgust at the notion of spending time with my mother. Surprisingly though, she doesn't get the urge to vomit.

"You don't have to come, Sam. I was just saying, if you didn't want to go home or go with Carly, you could just come over and hang out in my room while I was with my Mom."

"Does she know we're dating?"

My eyes widen a little at the sudden question, and I'm immediately feeling guilty, looking down at my shoes. Sam's jaw drops and I can hear the distinct sound of her knuckles cracking. I see Carly step between her and me, but frankly, I deserve a beating if it comes to that.

"You haven't told her! Why the hell haven't you told her that I'm your girlfriend!", Sam screams, unballing her fists and instead giving me a frustrated look.

"I didn't know…I didn't know how she'd react…"

Sam rolled her eyes and took a step back, fighting the urge, I'm sure, to smack the living daylights out of me. Carly stepped between us as a precautionary measure, but Sam took a deep breath and unballed her fists. Carly stepped aside as Sam moved forward and cupped my face in her hands, leaning in and whispering some choice words to me.

"I love you, Bensonhead. I want this to work as much as you do. But you gotta stop living in fear of what your Mom will say about stuff. Tell her. Please, for me?"

I looked into Sam's eyes and saw a sincerity that I rarely saw, whether we hated each other or we were kissing each other's faces off. It was nice seeing this side of Sam, that much I can admit. And she used Carly's old trick against me! That's just not fair. I mean, it was ok if Carly used it back in those days, but for Sam to use it now? I call shenanigans, big time!

"I know Sam…I'll talk to her about it today. You just have to understand…it's hard having a mother who doesn't listen", I say, and Sam's eyes quickly darken. She pulls away from me and heads for the door, only stopping to face me briefly.

"You've got no idea, Freddie", was all she said before she left, leaving me and Carly with confused looks.

A few hours later, I returned to Carly's after having some quality 'mother-son bonding time', which involved making puzzles and her spraying me with anti-tick spray. She asked me why I was suddenly spending so much time with Sam now, and I froze. I wanted to tell her so bad…I felt terrible. But I didn't necessarily lie, either. I told her that me and Sam had just grown a lot closer as friends and we were seeing each other for what we really were. I really did want to tell her…but it just didn't feel right.

But Sam didn't have to know. Whether she admits it or not, I've become a better liar by hanging around with her. So if she asked…I'd lie. I didn't like the fact that I'd be lying to the girl that I loved more than anything, but it's for the best…

I walked into the apartment only to find it empty. Shrugging my shoulders, I let myself in anyways and plopped down on the couch, turning the TV on to see if there was anything worth watching. Out of the corner of my though, I saw something standing in front of the refrigerator…of course Sam would be raiding it while Carly and Spencer were gone.

"Having fun over there?", I said aloud, which startled her and earned me a glare, one I grinned at as I stood up and walked over. She mumbled something while she was chewing, and I just laughed; old habits die hard, I guess.

"Wahchoodoinhere", she said as she swallowed down a part of…an enchilada? Spencer must have made them last night.

"Aside from admiring your gross eating habits, I just finished up with my mom so I've got nothing to do now. And before you say anything, I told her and she freaked, but she got over it."

Sam eyed me for a moment, but then shrugged her shoulders and smirked. "I knew she would. Want some?", she asked, offering me half of the last enchilada in the fridge. I shook my head and declined. "Meh, suit yourself. You know what though?"

"What?"

"This enchilada is more than food. It represents our freedom, Freddifer. We're almost done for the summer, and then we'll be one step closer to being done with high school all together. There have been few times where I've truly felt free…", she paused to take a massive bite of the Mexican treat in her hand, "And eating this is one of those times."

I stood there, my brows arched in amazement and puzzlement. Of course, this all made perfect sense to Sam, and made absolutely none to me. But before I could say anything else, the door swung open, and Spencer stood there, carrying bags of groceries.

"Hey there, Carly's friends who never— ", he began to say before he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes transfixed on Sam and the enchilada in her hand.

"Hey Spence…what goes on?"

"Why do you have that in your hand?", he asked calmly, eyes wide and twitching.

"Um…I was hungry?"

"You…you…"

I leaned over to Sam and whispered, "I think we should go upstairs…like now."

She took the hint and dropped the enchilada, the two of us making a break for the steps while Spencer ran over to the island and grabbed what was left of his enchilada before bellowing out…

**"YOU ATE MY ENCHILADA!"**

Being free was awesome.


	5. A day to remember

**Hoooo boooooy. Been a while here, hasn't it? I apologize for the insanely long wait. It won't be happening again. This story means too much to me. So here it is everyone...chapter five of Hello, Seattle. Enjoy.**

_"Seriously, Mom? You've been drinking every night for the past three days! When is enough gonna be enough?"_

Sam remembered the moments from earlier in the night as she walked down the empty streets of Seattle, on her way to the one place where she could feel safe and secure. She had come home from school and found her mother slamming down yet another bottle of vodka, and in the process of opening a new one up. Normally, she would have just ignored it and locked herself in her room. But for some reason, this time was different from the others. Feeling bolder than usual, she walked up to her obviously hammered mother and slapped the bottle out of her hands, and that was when the argument happened.

It was a particularly brutal argument.

_"You know why I drink so damn much, Sam?"_

_"Because you made Daddy leave, that's why!"_

While she walked in and snuck past a sleeping Lewbert, stepping into the elevator and going up to the 8th floor, the last words that were spoken amongst the two of them were gonna stay with her for a while. She'd be amazed if she ever forgave her mother for what she said.

_"I do what I do because of who I gave birth to! Look at you! You're a failure in every sense of the word!"_

_"No I'm not! I've got a great boyfriend, a great best friend and a great life! Just because your dreams didn't come true when you were my age doesn't mean you have to say that about me!"_

_"Oh bullshit! It's all lies! You'll never amount to anything, Sam!"_

_"Oh yeah? Well I HATE YOU! You are NO mother of mine! I'm DONE with you!"_

Sam now found herself picking the lock to Freddie's apartment and walking into the darkened living room and down the hall, quietly making sure that his crazy mother didn't hear her. When she reached his door, she cracked it open a bit and saw her boyfriend sleeping peacefully under his sheets, the moon light shining on his face. Sighing, she turned around and was prepared to walk out and just crash at Carly's, when she heard him call out to her.

"Sam? That you?"

She turned to face him, tip-toeing into the room where she sat down in the chair near his bed, exhaustion beginning to wash over her facial expressions, while Freddie tried his best to rub the sleep out of his own eyes.

"Yeah, it's me...listen, I don't wanna disrupt your sleep or anything like that, I'll just go over to Carly's and crash there..."

"Is everything ok? Did...did something happen at home?"

Sam turned away for a second, staring at the floor. She didn't really feel like divulging everything that happened right now, opting to just want to fall asleep, whether it be here or at Carly's. She faced Freddie, but before she could say anything, he already had his arms wrapped around her in a loving embrace.

"It's alright, Sam...you don't have to say anything right now."

All she could do was nod her head and give him a peck on the cheek as a sign of her appreciation. "Hey...do you mind if I stay the night? I promise I'll be out of here before your mom sees me...I just don't wanna go over to Carly's so late and bother them...even though that's kinda what I'm doing right now over here with you..."

"Yeah, sure, of course you can...you can crash on the couch if you'd like."

The somewhat hurt look in her eyes quickly told him that she'd rather sleep anywhere but the couch. "Um...if you say no, it's ok...but I was wondering if I could just...I dunno...sleep next to you? I just...I just wanna be near you."

Freddie gave a sleepy smile as he nodded his head in understanding and beckoned for his girlfriend to join him in his bed. As the two of them got comfortable, Freddie wrapped his arm around Sam's waist and pulled her close to his body, the two of them facing each other. He placed a soft, gentle kiss on her lips before muttering _'I love you'_, sleep finally capturing him again as they stayed like that, in each other's embrace, a small smille on Sam's lips as she too fell asleep.

A few hours later, she found herself munching on a bagel as she walked home so she could quickly shower and change, and hopefully get out of her house without seeing that **thing** she called a mother. Arriving at the door, she kicked it open and saw that everything was the same, which didn't surprise her. But as she turned the corner to walk the steps up to her room, her eyes grew wide and she dropped the bagel on the floor, her jaw hanging in mid-air.

The living room was completely..._clean_. There wasn't one empty bottle of vodka to be found. The floor looked good enough to eat off of. Everything was just so...off. And it was freaking Sam out a little bit, seeing everything like this. Slowly making her way into the room, she looked around in awe, before peering around the corner, into the kitchen, where she saw her mother...doing the dishes.

Needless to say, Sam's eyes just about popped out of her head as she ran up to her room, not believing a damn thing she just saw.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm completely serious! She was **CLEANING!** The whole house looked spotless!"

Carly couldn't help but roll her eyes as she grabbed two root beers out of her fridge, placing one on the bar for Sam to have while she told her story. Like Sam had expected, her best friend was having a hard time believing it.

"Sam, we both know your mom would rather go on a date with Frothy than clean up her stuff around your house. Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?"

"Carly, I may make insane comments here and there..."

She stopped when she saw the look Carly was giving her, as if she was saying, "_Here and there? Really? Really?"_

"Ok, I may make insane comments **all** of the time, but this is no insane comment this time around, I'm telling the truth! I really saw her doing the dishes, Carls! In fact, so I can prove that I'm not losing my mind, you're coming over tomorrow and seeing it for yourself!"

Carly couldn't help but shake her head and grin at the enthusiasm Sam was showing. Sitting down on the couch and turning Girly Cow on, she faced her blonde headed best friend and decided to herself that humoring Sam once in a while wasn't going to harm her...unlike last time. She still hadn't touched a hockey stick since then...

"Were you thinking about the hockey stick again, Carls?"

"How'd you know that?"

"I know that far away look you get followed by that shudder of yours. Trust me, this is nothing like the last time."

"I still haven't touched a hockey stick since then!"

All Sam could do was laugh hysterically while Carly pouted, her arms crossed as she faced the television and watched in silence while Sam nearly fell off the couch, she was laughing so hard. While all of this was going on, Spencer ran into the room, smiling widely as he held a rather large wad of cash in one hand and his football helmet in the other. He tried speaking but was drowned out by Sam's constant laughter. Growing frustrated with every second of her laughing going by, Spencer grabbed the bull horn he kept in the living room (in case of emergencies...or in case Chuck was trying to kill him), and let loose with it. Instinctively, the girls clutched their heads, hands covering their ears while they both shot Spencer dirty looks.

"What the heck was that for, Spence?", Carly asked shrilly, nearly having been scared out of her skin from the noise.

"Yeah dude, seriously! I was ready to kill you!", Sam yelled as she shook her head to get the ringing out of her ears.

"None of that matters! Check out my wad!", he screamed happily, waving the wad of cash in question in front of the girls, both of their eyes widening. Spencer continued to wave the cash, doing a little dance in the middle of the living room while he did so.

"Where'd you get all that money?", Carly asks as she stands up and grabs the money from her brother's hand, examining it. "There's three thousand dollars here!"

"Holy crap, Spence!", was all Sam could say as she took a few bills from the pile and rubbed them against her face to see if they were fake or not (don't ask.)

"You know that giant clock I had been working on for a while?", he asked as he snatched back the money from the girls and stuffed the wad in his back pocket.

"The one where the numbers were backwards and that creepy bird with one eye popped out?", Carly asked as she sat back down on the couch, flipping the channel to the school's local channel.

"Yeah, that one and-**HEY!** Albert was **NOT **creepy! And it's not my fault his other eye kept falling off all the time!"

"Dude, that thing would give anyone a nightmare. It was friggin' scary", Sam commented dully as she chugged the last of her root beer and, in true Puckett fashion, tossed the empty bottle over her shoulder and burping rather loudly. Spencer looked weirded out while Carly gave Sam that same _'Really?_' look, Sam merely shrugging her shoulders in response.

"Anywhoooo...yeah...what was I talking about again?", Spencer asked, a confused look coming across his face.

"The cash. Your scary clock."

"Ah, right! Yeah, so I was talking about it to one of my friends-"

"You have friends?", Sam asked seriously.

"...well, you see, yeah, and **THAT'S NOT THE POINT!**", Spencer yelled as Sam grinned. "I was talking to him and I told him about the clock, so he wanted to see it and he loved it! So he gave me three thousand bucks for it and **LOOK AT THE WAD BABY!**", he said as he grabbed the cash and began showing it off again.

"That's so awesome, I'm happy for ya Spence!", Carly said, a warm smile gracing her features.

"I know! And you know what the two of us are doing tomorrow afternoon!", he asked excitedly, clapping his hands together and looking like the biggest six year old kid in all of Seattle.

"Please don't say we're going shopping for Canadian bacon in Vancouver again...", she muttered, shuddering yet again as Sam smirked. When Spencer didn't immediately respond, Carly sighed. "Remind me to grab the bucket when we go tomorrow..."

"Wrong!...and why would you need the bucket again?", he asked, confused. "Nevermind that! We're going to the amusement park and then we're going to Petrozini's for dinner, and it's all on me kiddo!"

Carly's face brightened at the thought of spending all day having fun with her older brother, but the look quickly faded in favor of being bummed about something. "Aw Spence, that sounds like it'll be awesome but...tomorrow I can't. I've got my biology final tomorrow and I absolutely cannot miss it..."

A look of hurt flashed across Spencer's face at hearing the news, but Sam, ever the friend, spoke up. "Carls...honestly. Do you have to take that final? Wouldn't you rather have fun and spend the day with your awesome yet crazy older brother? C'mon Carly Girl...live a little!"

"Sam, I can't fail this final! If I do..."

"Wait, aren't you like, getting an A plus in biology?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Then why the chiz are you worrying about missing the final! Hennig **loves** you! You'll pass even if you ditch!", Sam said defiantly. Carly shook her head but her blonde headed sidekick wasn't having any of it. "You aren't getting out of this one, kid. Go have fun with Spence, you need to let your hair down once in a while."

Carly turned around and saw her older brother vigorously nodding his head, to the point where it looked like his neck was going to break if he kept at it. After looking back and forth between Spencer and Sam, she finally sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Oh alright, I guess I can afford to miss my biology final..."

**"YES!",** Spencer yelled as he leaped into the air and grabbed his little sister in a fierce hug. "We're gonna have so much fun tomorrow kid, you won't be disappointed!", he yelled as he ran back to his room, before a loud slam was heard. Both of the girls looked at each other and then, as if on cue...

"Oh...you're still closed", was all they heard Spencer say as he opened his bedroom door and walked in, obviously in pain. The girls laughed while the door opened, with Freddie walking in, a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Freddie", Carly greeted him with a smile as he waved back and sat down next to Sam, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey Carls. Hey you", he said with a grin while Sam giggled. Carly shook her head at that; she'd still have to get used to hearing the lovey-dovey talk and Sam actually _giggling_...

"What brings you here?", Carly asked, getting up to throw away her root beer and grab herself a snack. Freddie looked expectantly at Sam, who smacked her forehead and whispered a quick apology to him. "Ahh I totally forgot to tell you! Fredamame here is taking me out on what he's calling 'the best day ever.'"

"And it is, so we should get going or you're gonna miss out", he whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her as she smiled. "Well Carly, we're gonna go...yes, we'll give you the deets when we see you later, don't worry", he said while Carly happily nodded her head and waved them goodbye.

"Have fun, you little lovebirds!", she said with a laugh as the happy couple exited the apartment hand in hand, ready to have a great time.

"Oh. My. God."

Freddie couldn't help but smirk as he watched Sam chomp down on her fourth hot dog of the evening. Their day had started off innocently enough, with a stroll through the park across from Bushwell Plaza and then getting smoothies from the Groovy Smoothie. Then Freddie took her to downtown Seattle to the Central Waterfont where they enjoyed a ferry trip and some boat food (oh how Sam loved her boat food!), and then finally ended up here at the Mariners game, with seats behind the Mariners dugout. Needless to say, Sam was enjoying every bit of this day.

"Dude, how did you manage to get these tickets? They cost like, a crap ton of moolah!"

"Yeah, well", he began, snaking his arm around her shoulders. "Money doesn't matter when it comes to you."

She smiled and lightly punched him in the side. "You're such a dork...but at least you're mine."

The inning ended and that meant that Sam was probably going to go terrorize the ice cream stand, but right before she left, the jumbo screen started showing couples around the stadium, where they then kissed upon seeing themselves on the screen. Sam rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of it all, while Freddie remained in place, trying to catch a glimpse of the Mariners coming out of their dugout. He looked up at the screen and saw that it was showing the two of them...

"Sam, we're on the giant screen."

"Really? Oh. Wow. I look _goooooooood_ on a giant TV screen."

Instinctively, Freddie reached over and grabbed Sam's hand before she could leave, pulling her close to him. He glanced at the screen and then back at her, and in one motion, swooped in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. After their image faded from the jumbo screen, she pulled back and gave him a look that looked like she wanted to kick his ass. But instead, she gave him the trademark Puckett grin and kissed his cheek. And if that wasn't enough, a foul ball came their way and Freddie managed to catch it, amazed that it didn't break his hand. Smiling, she intertwined their fingers together as she took the ball with her free hand and twirled it around in her fingers.

"You were right, Freddie."

"Right about what?"

Another kiss on the cheek, and he had his answer.

"This is the best day ever."

**And that's it. Hope you all enjoyed it. Updates will be coming frequently so hang on and enjoy the ride! Lates.**


	6. Perfectly imperfect

**Here it is everyone, just as I promised...chapter six being delivered by the end of the month. I hope you all enjoy!**

**I don't own anything.**

"Sam, I honestly don't think that your mother just decided out of nowhere that she was going to start acting like...well, an actual mother! That kind of thing doesn't just happen over night, ya know!"

The brunette finished applying the last touches of her make up, placing her eyeliner down and grabbing a brush as she began to run it through her silky smooth locks. The blonde in the corner of the small room, however, wasn't hearing any of it. Rolling her eyes and letting a deep sigh escape her lips, she ran a hand through her wild blonde curls and gave her best friend a skeptical look. Of course, Sam knew beforehand that trying to convince Carly that her mother had changed seemingly at the snap of a finger was going to be difficult; she just didn't think it'd be _this_ difficult.

"Ughhh, c'mon Carls! Why can't you just take my word for it on this one?"

She turned around and gave her best friend a deadpan look before resuming with the brushing of her hair. "Remember the _last time_ I took your word on something, Sam?", she asked as she put the brush down and did a final check up on her eye shadow and blush, inwardly smirking as she saw the somewhat guilty look on her best friend's face in the mirror.

"How was I supposed to know that stuff was flammable? It's not **my** fault they didn't put a label on it!", she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. Carly turned around and simply smiled, shaking her head as she gathered her mini make up kit and threw it into her purse.

"It's no big deal, Sam. Just be lucky you didn't burn Gibby alive...you can't afford another trip to juvy", she says with a grin as she takes Sam's arm and loops her own around it. "Now come on, lets get a move on, or else we're gonna be late for Spencer's first home game as a Cobra!"

Sam pouted and tried resisting as they exited the bathroom. "Ehhh can't we just go to the next home game, Carls? I'm feeling extra lazy today and I think Freddie wanted me to wait here for him while-"

"I'll give you your beef jerky and Fat Cakes back if you come", Carly sang, a devilish grin on her lips as she took the food items in question out of her purse and waved them in front of Sam, whose eyes grew as wide as golf balls while she licked her lips in anticipation. Without thinking twice, she grabbed two of her favorite treats and began to devour them while Carly snickered, the two girls entering the elevator that would take them to the parking garage. Arriving at a black pickup truck, Sam stopped short and stared incredulously at the vehicle before her, eyebrows raised while Carly stopped while she was opening the driver's side door.

"Anything wrong, Sam?", she asked innocently, tossing her bag into the back seat. When she didn't immediately respond, Carly sighed as she walked over to her blonde headed best friend and snapped her fingers in front of her face, waking her from her daze.

"When did you get your license? And when the chiz did you get a car!", Sam exclaimed, her jaw having dropped from the shock of it all.

"Um...you don't remember? I got my provisional license like, a month before junior prom? You even went with me...you nearly wanted to kill the guy behind the glass because he accidentally skipped over me in the line...poor bald guy", she trailed off, thinking about that near gruesome experience and shuddering a bit.

"Wait, that was for your license? I thought you were getting your state ID fixed!"

Carly resisted the urge to giggle at her friend, taking a deep breath before guiding Sam over to the passenger side of the truck. Once they were situated, Carly grabbed her keys, put it in the ignitiona and soon, the girls were on the road to Schneider Field, home of the Cobras. The first few minutes of the ride were oddly silent, given everything that had been happening in the iCarly circle over the past month and a half.

"So how was your best day ever with Freddie?", Carly asks, trying to start conversation, while Sam finished the last of her beef jerky bits.

"Before I answer that, I pose a question to you kiddo...why are you driving when you don't even have your full license yet?"

She surpressed the urge to grin like a mad woman as she made a turn down a deserted street before coming to a stop sign. "Just cause I can...I mean, we're gonna be seniors in a few months, Sam! I know that I'm not one to do this kinda stuff...but you were right...I just gotta let my hair down once in a while."

All Sam could do was smile proudly at her best friend, like a mother who had just gone to her daughter's first recital and watched her kill it. Reaching over and ruffling her best friends hair while they were stopped at a light, the two of them giggled before the car moved forward once again. "That's my Carly Girl! Look at you living on the edge!", she exclaimed. "Oh by the way, you missed that last stop sign", she then muttered quickly and softly, causing Carly to squeal and push down on the breaks really hard, with Sam bursting out into laughter. Carly gave her a pointed look before grinning and continuing on, finally reaching the parking lot of the stadium.

After going through the rather large crowd and the lines to get to their section, the iCarly girls sat down in their seats, situated at midfield, before they resumed their conversation from before. "You never answered my question, Sam", the brunette spoke, taking a bite of her apple.

"What question?", she asked in-between mouthfuls of popcorn and root beer. Upon seeing the serious look on the brunette's face, her brows raised before she mouthed _'Ohhhhh'_. That question.

"Oh Carls, it was amazing! I didn't know that Freddie knew about all these places...and I didn't really realize how much of a romantic he was! I felt like I was on cloud nine the entire time, Carls. The boy knows how Mama rolls", she said with the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. When Carly gave her a funny, goofy look, they broke out into fits of laughter.

"Gosh, do you hear me? I sound like such a girly girl!", Sam exclaimed after the laughter died down. "I really can't believe how awesome it was though, Carly...he really is an amazing boy, and I'm really lucky to have him."

"Aww, look at you! My little Sammy's all in love...and stuff", Carly spoke, giving her best friend's hand a quick squeeze before the Cobras ran out onto the field, with Spencer leading them out there. The two girls stood up and cheered their lungs out as Spencer's face was shown on the giant video screen behind one of the end zones. He had his best smile on and waved to the massive crowd as the announcer introduced him. They saw him pointing in their direction, and soon enough, he was waving madly at them as the screen showed them, announcing their presence. The girls were caught a little off guard by that, as the crowd roared their approval, while they just smiled and waved, before the camera cut off them and back to the field.

"Well, that was a bit unexpected. Show up to a game to support your older brother and you get louder cheers than some of the guys on the team", Carly muttered under her breath loud enough for Sam to hear, who nodded her head in agreement. As the crowd settled down again, Carly faced Sam and decided she'd try and probe her best friend a little bit more about how things were going between her and Freddie.

"Do you think it's gonna last?"

"What, Spencer remaining in one piece by the time the season is over? Gosh, I hope so...I'd hate to see his face get mashed into the turf", Sam responded, downing the last of her popcorn before tearing into some jelly beans.

"That's not what I meant, Sam."

"What then, the stuff I told you about with my mom?"

"I'll find that out for myself soon enough, after the game's over...no, I meant with you and Freddie. Do you think it's gonna last?"

Sam's eyes widened a bit at that. Turning her attention from that of the violence on the field below them, she turned to face Carly, her mouth hanging open a bit. How did she respond to that? She knew that Freddie was the one, for sure. She had repeatedly told herself that little fact over and over, and she had also told herself that she would never feel the way she does for Freddie for another boy again. But hearing a question like that really put things into perspective for her. What if, heaven forbid, things didn't work out between the two of them? What if things went back to the way they were before they got together? She hated thinking about it...but she'd be lying if she said that those thoughts, no matter how small, weren't swimming around in the very back of her mind.

She sighed tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Too many questions. Not enough answers.

"Why? You don't think it's going to?"

A smile graced Carly's lips as she reached over and embraced Sam in a half hug, wiping the hurt look off the blonde's face. "Of course I don't think that, Sam. I saw the way you guys looked at each other when you were dancing on the field during prom...I see the way he makes you happy, and I see the way you make him more confident. You two are so obviously meant for each other and it's insanely cute. I'm glad I had a small part in helping you two realize your feelings for each other...I know you two are gonna last. I just wanna hear what you have to say."

"You know you just like, reinforced every reason why I love you to pieces and why you're my best friend in the whole world, right?", Sam asked rhetorically. Carly giggled and nodded her head, before the two girls jumped up in celebration, the Cobras having scored a touchdown to take the lead. After the hysteria settled down, Sam turned to face her best friend, giving her a knowing look. Sam didn't really think much, but when it came to her and Freddie...well, that was the only thing worth thinking about as far as she was concerned.

"I think about our situation every day, Carls. I mean, you just said it yourself...he makes me so happy, I just...I don't even know. The boy gets me going. I'm not lying when I say that I haven't felt this way about a boy before...and I doubt I will ever again. He's my pie in the sky, Carls...and you know how much I love pie."

She smiled at the blonde's food reference, her friend's answer having been good enough for her. But she then frowned when she looked out at the field and didn't see a familiar number out there wearing blue. After seaching for a few more seconds, she realized something. "How come Spencer's not out there with the starters?"

Sam followed Carly's lead and looked all over, before finally spotting the back of his head and his long brown hair on the bench. She arched her eyebrows and scowled a little bit; didn't that janky coach promise Spencer a spot on the starting squad, the girls collectively thought to themselves as they both watched Spencer from behind.

"I dunno Carls...that's odd. Wasn't he ranting and raving about how awesome Spencer was when we spoke with him the other day?"

"Yeah...but wasn't he also talking about how much publicity the team would get with him on the team and how many more tickets they would sell because we'd be promoting the games on iCarly just as much as that?", Carly asked, starting to put two and two together. Her eyes grew wide, lips pursed in anger. "That...that..."

"Dipthong? Skunk-bag? Jackass?", Sam listed off monotonously, earning her a sharp look from Carly. "Sorry...it's rude and not lady like to curse..."

"That jerk! He's using Spencer and he's using us! I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind..."

"Carls, relax. Maybe he just forgot? That kinda thing happens, yanno", Sam said through a mouthful of jelly beans and cookies. Noticing the irked look in the brunette's eyes, Sam put her food down and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Alright, look here. If it happens again during the next home game, then we'll talk to the dude. We don't wanna be jumping down the guy's throat one game into the season."

Carly turned to face her best friend and gave her an incredulous look. "Where did that come from? When did you become such a peace maker?"

"Eh, you and Freddie have been trying to make do nice and right things ever since we all met, me actually listening to you two was bound to happen eventually", she says with a wave as she slurped down the rest of her soda. Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate, signifying she was getting a text message. Flipping open her phone, a very small grin graced her lips as she read it to herself.

"Who's textin ya? Freddie?", Carly asks as she takes a swig of her water, having calmed down a little bit now.

"Mi madre", she responds effortlessly, earning her a grin from Carly. "And yes, Fredhead's been teaching me some Spanish here and there, that's not the point! The point is that she wants me to come home...she's got something she wants to show me. Which means, if I remember correctly, that you are coming with! Ooh boy, I can't wait to see the look on your face after you see how my crazy ass mother has changed!"

"Sam!"

"Oh come on, I can't even say ass!"

"No, you cannot. Now c'mon, if we're gonna go to your place, we better leave now before half time, or else we're gonna get trampled by all these maniacs."

With that, the girls left the stadium and got back on the road to Sam's house, where the girls were sure to be met with more than a few surprises...

* * *

"No. Chizzin. Way."

Carly's jaw hung, looking like it was ready to hit the floor at any moment, while Sam stood in her now spotlessly clean kitchen, a triumphant look on her face. For once, Carly was actually speechless as she walked around the kitchen, half shocked that Sam's **MOM** did this, half amazed that she didn't miss a single spot. The only thing that looked out of place was the garbage that was littered on the floor...probably because Mrs. Puckett got lazy and missed the garbage can when throwing it out. _"It wouldn't be a Puckett kitchen if there wasn't chicken bones and Fat Cake wrappers littered all over the place",_ Carly mused to herself. Once they stopped and sat down at the table, Sam stared at her best friend with a victorious grin, one that wouldn't be going away anytime soon. Carly still couldn't believe it, but she sighed and shook her head. Sam was actually right about this!

"Go on, say that Mama was right all along, Carls."

"I...I don't know what to say, Sam. This is all too surreal..."

"I told you that she did all this! You didn't wanna believe me, but I told you! It's crazy, right? My mom, cleaning and acting...not drunk and **NORMAL!** Pam Puckett...single mom of the year...yeesh."

The girls shuddered in stereo at that image before they were snapped out of it by the sound of the vacuum cleaner whirring to life somewhere in the house. Carly's eyes widened even more than they had before, while you couldn't sandblast the grin off of Sam's lips. "None of this freaks you out, Sam! Like...you don't even know how this whole thing started? Is she taking pills or something? Maybe she has amnesia...yeah, that's it!"

All Sam could do was laugh and place her hands on her best friend's shoulders, trying to get her to calm down a bit. By now, Carly was starting to get a little whipped up, and Sam knew all too well how to properly deal with a whipped up Carly Shay. "Carls...Carls...", she said twice without so much as a response, because her best friend was still going off the deep end with these crazy theories about how her best friend's lazy mother could transform into Mrs. Brady. **"CARLS!",** she shouted, finally getting the brunette to shut up and calm down for a moment, a _'Sorry'_ being mumbled somewhere in there.

"Listen, I dunno how this happened...it does kinda freak me out, I won't lie. But I'll live with it...who knows, maybe it's just a small phase...wouldn't surprise me if she went back to being a raging alcoholic by the end of the night..."

Just then, the vacuum cleaner stopped and there stood Pam Puckett in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, eyeing the two girls sitting at her kitchen table somewhat suspiciously. The girls remained silent, waiting for the customary random, completely out of context rant that sure to follow from Mrs. Puckett...but it never came. Instead, the elder Puckett greeted the girls with a welcoming smile and a wave. Needless to say, both of them were shocked.

"Hello Carly, hello Sam. How are you girls doing today? Can I get you both anything to drink?"

If Carly wasn't Sam's best friend in the whole world, she'd of ran out of the house screaming right then and there.

"Um...no, I'm good Mrs. Puckett...thank you, though..."

"Oh please, Carly. Call me Pam", she said, completely oblivious to the looks on the two younger girls faces as she went about her business. "Oh Carly...do you mind if I speak to Sam for a few moments? The TV is on downstairs, if you wanna watch some."

Carly merely nodded her head, got up and walked (a little fast for her liking), out of the kitchen and down the steps to where the TV was. After she was out of earshot, Pam sat down and Sam spun around to face her, a bored expression on her face. "What do you want, Pam?", she said bitingly, not keeping her agression in check. Their fight from a few nights before was still fresh in her mind, and she hoped to keep this conversation short.

"How do I even begin to say this..."

"Alright, if you're just gonna ramble, then **save it** Pam. My best friend is over and I'm going to go see my boyfriend later, and live my **great** life...I don't need any of your crap."

Right as she was about to get up, however, Pam placed her hand on her youngest daughter's wrist, almost willing her to stay. "Listen, Sam...I'm just gonna come out and say it...I'm sorry. For everything."

Amused, her brows arched, Sam sat down. An apology from her mother? Too good to be true.

"I know that I haven't been...the best mother in the whole world...and I haven't treated you the way you're supposed to be treated and the way you deserve to be treated. I've always given Mel special treatment and treated you like dirt, like I didn't even want you to be my daughter...I couldn't be more wrong about that."

Sam sat there in stunned silence while her mother pressed on. "And I know that mere words can't fix everything I've done to you...I've been a terrible mother, Sam...and that fight we had the other night...it woke something up inside of me. You're only seventeen, going to be eighteen...still so young and beautiful...I've missed out on mostly everything in your life, and I don't want to miss out on anything anymore...that fight made me realize that I needed to wake up and smell the roses...and it made me realize that I need to be a better mother...so that's why everything is the way it is right now...and if you don't believe anything I'm saying, I can't really blame you...I've lied to you for years...but I really mean everything, Sam...from the bottom of my heart...I want to be the mother you've never had, the one you've always wanted...if you're willing to give me a chance. And if you don't want to...well, at least I can say that I tried..."

Before she could say anything else, Sam lunged forward and embraced her mother in a hug...the first hug they've shared in a long, long time. Sam looked up into her mother's eyes, a smile on her lips and a tear threatening to fall from her eyelid. "You can _start_ by taking me to Chicken Fried Chicken tomorrow night for dinner...I wanna tell you about iCarly and all that good stuff."

Tears were already falling from Pam's eyes as she hugged her daughter back, the two of them not wanting to let go. "I swear Sam...I'm gonna make everything up to you...I love you."

Without even thinking, Sam replied with the same three words. They stayed like that, hugging each other, for a while, while Carly silently watched from the top of the downstairs steps, a teary-eyed grin gracing her features. If there ever was a definition of perfect...this would be it.


	7. Hello, Seattle

**Hello everyone! How're you all doing? Good I hope. Sorry for the bit of delay with this latest chapter. Anywhoo, here it is! Hope you all enjoy.**

**PS - iParty With Victorious was so effing hilarious. Kenan Thompson can still kill it.**

**PSS - The wait for iLost My Mind is seriously killing me. August! Way to torture us all, Dan.**

**PSSS - I don't own anything but the story.**

"Girls."

I heard Freddie's words, and for the first time in a while, I completely ignored them.

"I forgot how much fun this was!"

I looked at Carly, who was having a grand ole time herself. We were both laughing our heads off, while Freddie sat there at the kitchen table with his laptop firmly in hand, looking at something while we thouroughly enjoying ourselves.

"Sam, don't hit your head!"

"Girls."

"Aw come on Carls, you can't tell me that this isn't fun for you!"

"Girls..."

"It is! I just don't want you getting a concussion, that's all!"

"Aw lighten up Carly, I'm havin' fun!"

**"GIRLS!"**

The sound of his voice raising a few more octaves than it usually does gets us to stop bouncing around wildly. Freddie got up and walked over to the edge of the massive trampoline I bought with the $526 I was supposed to give to him and Carly a long time ago (and by long time ago, I mean last year...what? That's like, ancient history to me.) Without even saying anything, he thrusted his laptop out to the two of us, and for a brief moment, we had no idea what the chiz was on the screen because all we see are a bunch of bars and graphs...you know, techy dorky stuff. We're teenage girls...we don't know what any of that stuff is about.

"Um, not to sound dumb or rude, Freddie...but what is all this stuff?", Carly asks as we both sit down to get a better look at all the stuff on the computer screen. I glanced momentarily at my boyfriend and saw a glint in his eyes along with a grin on his lips. It must be something good if he's grinning like a goof (_my goof!_)

"Yeah, I don't understand what it is either...you know better than to confuse us with numbers and graphs and stuff that only you like!", I faux complain, earning me a playful shove and a smile. He shook his head and continued his goofy grinning before clearing his throat and explaining everything.

"That's how many viewers we got for our last webcast, ladies", he says calmly. When we still give him dumbfounded looks, he rolls his eyes and continues. "We reached one million viewers for the first time. That's the most we've ever had. Ever", he states, placing emphasis on the last word. Me and Carly let it sink in for a moment, looking at each other, then the computer screen, then to Freddie, then back to ourselves. Naturally, we had the kind of reaction you'd expect from two teenage girls who have the best show on the web when they reached one million viewers for the first time ever.

We screamed our pretty little heads off.

**"ONE MILLION VIEWERS!"**

**"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"**

**"THIS IS AMAZING!"**

**"INSANITY!"**

We stop when Spencer runs into the room and screams that. The three of us give him a weird look before we resume in our celebration of jumping all over the place and acting like a bunch of five year olds on mega sugar rushes. After doing that for a good two to three minutes, we all calmed down and were sitting on the edge of the trampoline again while Freddie continued to look up more data and Spencer began to make dinner for the four of us. I still can't believe this. One million viewers! That's like, the pinnacle for us (Freddie's been teaching me how to use big words like that in sentences...Mama's smarter than you think). That's just...so totally cool, words can't flippin' describe it.

"So, you little giblets ready for your last day of junior year tomorrow?", Spencer asks, his back turned to us as he rummaged through the fridge looking for some ingrediants.

"I'm already looking forward to senior year", Carly admitted truthfully, getting off the trampoline and sitting down at one of the stools by the bar. I glanced over at Freddie, who was still looking at his tech stuff with great interest and probably didn't even hear the question.

"I just can't believe it's ended so fast, you know? A lot has happened this year...it's all been a rush", I murmured as I got off as well and sat down next to Carly, grabbing an apple out of the basket while she logged onto the website to read some more comments from our last show.

"Speaking of which...are you gonna pass all of your classes?", she asked, her eyes not leaving the computer screen, to which I rolled my eyes and sighed. That's Carly for ya; motherly to a tee.

"_Yes mother_...Fredhead helped me with everything and I got all my assignments in last week...pretty sure I'm gonna pass. Unless Briggs decided to fail me on purpose...then I'll-", I'm cut off by Freddie wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me. I'm never going to grow old of the tingles he sends up my spine when he does that. It just feels so natural. And nice. Can't forget that either.

"What about you, Freddo? You excited to be one step closer to finally graduating?", Spencer asked as he began chopping lettuce wildly, the three of us giving him different looks that I'm sure ranged from confused to horrified to incredulous. He all stared at us for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. "**What?** I'm not allowed to chop lettuce?"

"Spencer, if you care about me, you'll put the knife down. You aren't good with sharp objects", Carly reminds him calmly. Spence just proceeded to roll his eyes and mutter something about not being allowed to have any fun anymore before ripping the remaining parts of the lettuce apart (with some difficulty), and throwing them hastily into the salad bowl.

"Anyways, to answer your question, shoosh yeah I'm happy to be a senior next year! One more year and then the three of us can all kiss Ridgeway goodbye!", he exclaimed as he removed his arms from around my waist and threw them triumphantly into the air, as if he had won some online computer game. He was adorable when he did stuff like that, whether he realizes it or not.

"Well that's good, kids! Because when you all get back here tomorrow after you're doing little teenage people stuff when, you know, it's the last day of school, we're gonna celebrate! On the roof! With **fireworks**!", Spencer yelled as he too threw his arms in the air for emphasis, while Carly shook her head and mumbled something under her breath about having to get the fire marshall on the phone and warn him about any inferno's that may be coming from their apartment tomorrow night. Freddie and me exchanged looks before collectively shrugging our shoulders, with him going back to his laptop, while I began to raid the fridge for some ham and a Wahoo Punch.

"How was your game in Tacoma last night, Spence?", asked Carly as she calmed herself down a bit, sitting down on the trampoline and turning the television on to some Girly Cow. I turned around to see him suddenly frowning as he angrily ripped the last of the lettuce in half with some freaky non-Spencer-like rage. "Um, Spencer?"

"It was _AWESOME_!", he said bitterly as he threw the lettuce and tomatoes into the nearby salad bowl. "I mean, it was just so cool and playing football for the Cobras is a lifelong dream of mine", he then added sarcastically. Carly gave him a worried look as he shook his head. "I'm sorry kiddo...it's just...I actually started last night! I was on the field, and I even had a pass thrown my way!"

"You caught it?", Carly and I asked simultaneously and incredulously, hoping for the best, Freddie's attention now being caught as the conversation progressed.

"No. It hit me in the head then fell to the ground. But anyway, I felt great, and everyone was saying the same thing! The next thing I know, I'm in the huddle and I get told that coach wants me out, so I thought it was only for the next series...and I ended up riding the bench the entire rest of the game."

Carly instantly stood up, that creepy looking angry scowl on her face. You know, where her lips get super pursed like she sucked on a thousand lemons and her right eye begins to twitch madly. Freddie instinctively shot up from the chair and placed a hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her down, while I grimaced at the thought of Hurricane Shay sweeping through Coach Harmon's offices and tearing him to tiny shreds. I thought I was an angry individual...but sometimes, Mama's got nothing on an angry Carly Shay.

"We're talking to Coach Harmon about this!", she yelled to no one in particular. After cringing at the raising of her voice, I nodded my head and Freddie did the same. It was three games into the season and so far, the dishrag wasn't living up to his promise to keep Spencer a starter...a position he earned. This whole situation was jank. Something needed to be done about it.

"Guys, you really don't need to do anything...I'll live, alright? I'll talk to him at practice tomorrow night...it's probably some just huge misunderstanding..."

"Or he's using you and he's using us! Spencer, if you don't talk to Coach Harmon tomorrow at practice and put your foot down, then the three of us will do it for you!", Carly exclaimed as she stood up and stalked towards the stairs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take a shower...don't bother me."

"So we can expect to see you next month?", Freddie said jokingly, but it earned him a death glare from her, so he wilted back into his chair, hiding behind his laptop again while she disappeared upstairs. Spencer then grabbed his motorcycle keys and mumbled something about needing to go to the store and get more groceries for dinner tonight and so he was gone. Y'know, this has been happening a lot lately...me and the dork being left alone in Carly's apartment like this. If I wasn't so steadfast (another big word!) in keeping myself a...well, _you know_...until I absolutely felt ready to take that next step...I would sooooo jump Freddie right now. What? I'm a teenage girl who's in love and my boyfriend is hot. I think about those things. I can't help myself...stupid hormones. I blame my mother.

And almost on cue, like he's reading my mind, Freddie speaks up, saying, "That's like, the fourth time this week they've left us alone in here. A year ago, Carly would've given us the riot act before leaving us alone. And then still probably told us to stay on opposite sides of the room."

Smiling as I walked over and sat next to him on the arm of the couch, I used his head as a prop for my arm while I looked at his screen. "Updating some junk on the site again?", I ask, stifling a yawn with him nodding his head in response. "When are you ever gonna just take a day off from doing that stuff?"

He moves my arm from his head and instead drapes it across his shoulders whilst looking up to face me. Feeling compulsive (his eyes do that to me), I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, while he smiled all the way. God, he's got such a gorgeous smile. "Probably never. It keeps me busy and occupied and **Sam what're you doing?**"

I was teasing him, duh. I was real close to his ear, breathing all sensually and stuff, trying to get him all worked up. It was also a nice little way to gauge his reaction about the whole intimate thing. I know he felt the same way about it that I did...but heck, I just enjoy teasing him like this from time to time. The way he acts is so hilarious. "Just think Freddie...Carly's in the shower and Spence won't be back for a while...we've got the entire apartment to ourselves...think of what we could do..."

The smile could barely be contained from my lips, but I kept at it while he paled and turned as white as a ghost. This was almost too funny. "Sam! We talked about this before! What're you...ohhh...", was all he got out before I kissed his temple and began breathing down his neck, causing him to roll his eyes. I couldn't take it anymore, so I just burst out laughing, getting off the couch and falling to my knees, that's how hard I was laughing at the whole situation. All he could do was scoff and shake his head, but deep down, he was chuckling, and he knew it. "You're such a jerk, Sam", he murmured, a faint smile on his lips as he too stood up, walking into the kitchen to grab a water.

"Yeah well, it's been a while! And at least I didn't break a bone or give you a mega atomic wedgie", I sang as I joined him at the bar. He eyed me up and down for a second before sighing contentedly and ruffling my already wild hair.

"So, how did everything go with your mom when you had Carly over the other day? You seemed to be in...good spirits when you came over after you left. Which means either you slapped the crap out of her or she wasn't even home and you threw out all her liquor. Either way, I can see why you'd be happy after leaving your house for a change."

Looking at him, I couldn't help the grin that was creeping across my lips. It's like he's always been able to kinda read my mind, even before we got together. Just another one of the many reasons why I find him so endearing and why I'm able to call him mine, all mine.

"It went...surprisingly well."

"I'm afraid to ask what _'surprisingly well'_ means."

"She...she sat me down and basically told me how terrible a mother she's been over the years. At first I thought she was lying again, but there was just something in her voice...it made me really pay attention to everything she was saying. She sounded so...sincere. Then she started crying and it just got so emotional. She said she wanted to make up everything to me and then we hugged and we went to Chicken Fried Chicken and I told her all about iCarly and my life and you..."

He arched an eyebrow at that. Of course, I had told her all about how he made me feel and how happy I was with him. Pam took it really well, surprisingly. I was half expecting her to give me a speech on how Puckett women didn't date nerds like Freddie or let them take care of us when we needed them to. We're Pucketts, she'd exclaim. Puckett's didn't need a man to help them with anything, they did it themselves. I was shocked as all chiz when she said she approved of me dating Freddie.

"What'd she have to say about me?"

"She said that you were the perfect boyfriend for someone like me. That you keep me on the straight and narrow but don't try to change who I am and what I'm all about. She said that you're the balance that keeps us standing. In idiot terms, she approves."

All I see is his smile creeping up onto his lips as he wraps his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder as I kissed his cheek. "Nice to see _one_ Puckett fully likes me", he says with a grin, earning him a flick on the side of the head. "Oh you know I was kidding."

"I know, I know...I'm just still surprised that my mother fully accepts you as my boyfriend, you know? I really thought she was gonna rear her ugly head again and tell me I had no business being in love with you. Well, a year ago she would have but now she's all...changed. I like the new Pam."

"So you don't feel the urge to want to scream at her or jackslap her into oblivion anymore?", Freddie asked me as he removed his arms from my waist and sat down next to me at the bar, turning on the computer there to check some comments from our last show.

"Oh no, I still feel the urge to beat the crap out of her anytime she messes something up or even thinks about grabbing a bottle of vodka. It's a slow process, but she'll learn. It's gonna take a while, but she'll get it eventually. I'm just glad she woke up and smelled the roses before it was too late..."

Truth be told, I was so scared that Pam was going to end up as one of those 'tragic life stories' that they always show on the news or some website. Every time I came home and found her passed out on the couch or the floor with her near customary five or six empty bottles of cheap vodka, I feared she was inching closer and closer to that worse case scenario. Having her on the straight and narrow now is one of the best things to happen in my life. Ever. Which is saying something.

"Well, at least she's actually trying to be a good mother, not pretending. I'd be pretty upset on your part if she was only faking the whole thing."

"Oh trust me, Fredhead, I'd probably be sent back to juvy for the massive butt kicking I'd lay on her if she was lying about the whole thing. But thankfully, she's not. Pam's really serious about trying to be a better mother...and it's working so far."

Just then, my phone vibrates and I check to see who could possibly be interrupting my alone time with Freddie...why is Gibby texting me? The next thing either of us know, the front door got kicked open and in ran the Gibster, looking happy and exhausted all at once (seeing as that's probably the fastest that he's ever run. Ever. Seriously. I don't even think I've seen him run in the time I've known him before now).

"Gibby?", was all Freddie could say as the shirtless mermaid fell onto the Shay's couch, out of breath and sweating profusely through his horribly tacky Hawaiian shirt (ew). He walked over to sit next to him and started patting his back gently as Gibby tried (and I use that word loosely) to catch his breath. I sighed and took a swig of my root beer and sat on the trampoline, jumping all over the place again while the two dudes began talking.

"So what brings you here, dude?", Freddie asked him as Gibby stopped panting like an old man and sat up on the couch, clearing his throat to speak.

"Is Carly here?", he asked, which was odd because well...it's Gibby. He's the definition of odd. But what would it matter if Carly was here? Did he do something to her that I don't know about? Cuz if he did...ooh boy, Mama would go beast mode on him!

"No, she's upstairs in the shower...she'll be a while. What do you want, Gib?", I ask as unenthusiastically as possible. Whatever he has to say, I probably won't care about. That's Freddie's thing to deal with. The two of them have always had some kind of weird bromance going on. It's weird. Like Gibby. But it is what is. For all his weirness and stupidity, he's a good kid. When he's not running around shirtless. Then he's a menace to society. Not to mention an eyesore.

"Ok. So. Yeah. This is going to sound like it's completely out of left field here..."

"Like you?"

"Sam!", Freddie scolds with a hint of a grin on his lips. I hate when he does that! It makes my heart flutter every time. And he gets me to shut up when he does it too. Grrr that boy.

"Sorry. Continue, Gibster."

"Anyways, so you all remember Tasha, right? My insanely hot girlfriend with **NO** problems whatsoever?", he said almost hesitantly, looking around as if Carly was going to magically phase through the floor and appear right there in front of him. I had to bite my tongue from making a comment. Gibby makes it too easy! It's not my fault he sets himself up worse than Freddie does!

"Yeah...what, did you send her to the hospital? Is she ok?", Freddie asks with a tinge of concern in his voice. I'm not gonna lie, if Gibby set her hair on fire or accidentally pushed her down a flight of stairs, I'm gonna burst out laughing. I don't care if it's cruel or totally wrong. It's Gibby. He couldn't harm a fly.

"Naw, she's fine...except for the fact that I dumped her because I told her I had a big crush on Carly."

Freddie just about spat out his root beer while I nearly lost my balance and fell off the trampoline. Ehhhhh!

**"WHAT!"**, we both exclaim simultaneously. Gibby's just staring at us like we're idiots. What! How? When? Who? Where? And **WHY!** He's joking with us. I'm so going to break his thumbs again. He's sooooo dead. I'm surprised Freddie isn't running around the apartment screaming like a lunatic right now. Heck, I'm surprised I'm not doing the same thing too.

"Uh...I have a crush. On Carly. A big one. Why is this a surprise to you?", he says simply, still staring at the two of us like idiots. He's the idiot! "I just wasn't feelin' it with Tasha anymore, y'know? Then I started looking at Carly differently lately...and she's just such an awesome girl, right? And then I figured that since you two were in love with each other and together, I'd go and make a move on Carly. Pretty cool, right?"

Just then, Spencer walked back into the apartment, holding a few bags of groceries. Oh, Spencer...you always _did_ have bad timing...

"What's pretty cool?", he asks, and before either me or Freddie could say anything to make sure he didn't find out the truth, Gibby beat us to the punch and spoke about it.

"Oh, the fact that I've got a huge crush on Carly. Isn't that awesome, Spence?"

The smile that previously was on Spencer's face wilted away like a dead flower, being replaced by an unreadable, expressionless stare. Then the groceries fell from his hands, thudding on the floor. Then he looked at the two of us incredulously, almost like he was waiting for one of us to tell him that Gibby was joking. We didn't. Then came the screaming. I looked over at Freddie, who already was inching his way towards the back door...great idea. As soon as we were outside on the deck, we closed the door behind us...and we could still hear the screaming. Then we heard a loud crash, which I only presumed could be Spencer finally collapsing.

"Wow, Spencer's really taking that hard."

"No duh, Fredhead. I'm surprised he didn't act that way when we told him about us."

"I'm surprised your mom didn't do the same."

"Right back at ya."

He looked away for a second before nodding his head. He looked down at me, wrapped an arm around my waist and smiled. I melted. Well, mostly because of the heat. But his smile does it to me too. **ALL** the time. S'why I love him.

"You looking forward to our first summer together, Sam?"

"Our first of many, Freddie."

I returned his smile with a peck on the cheek as I placed my head on his chest, slipping into his embrace as we stared out at Seattle. It's a beautiful place and it was beautiful out and we were still by ourselves. I could seriously do this with him for the rest of my life. I had a great, amazing boyfriend...I was a year away from graduating Ridgeway...my mother had finally woken up...iCarly was only getting better...summer was nearly here...and our peculiar friend had a crush on my best friend. Oh and did I mention I had a great, amazing boyfriend?

"Life is great, isn't it, Puckett?"

Indeed it is, Benson. Indeed it is.


	8. An offer you can't refuse

**Hey everyone, how're you all doing! Good I hope. Here's chapter 8! I feel this is the best chapter I've written for the story so far...and I'm not even halfway done. Well, without any further adieu, here's the latest chapter of Hello, Seattle. Enjoy.**

**Don't own anything but the story...and seriously, August needs to get here already. The wait for iLMM is killing me.**

Freddie blinked. It was still there. He blinked a few more times. The paper still didn't magically disappear from his desk. He picked it up and examined it for the millionth time in the past five minutes, checking to see if this was some sort of prank being pulled on him by Sam. Just because she was his girlfriend now didn't mean that she wouldn't be prone to pulling the odd prank on him now and again. He'd be mad at her for a minute if it was, but then he'd laugh it off and chalk it up to another really good prank that she pulled off.

If only the letter didn't have the little stamp that said _"University of Southern California"_ on it.

And even then, he had double, triple and quadruple checked the seal to see if there were any alterations, minor or massive, to it that would give it away as a joke. He checked the signature of the head of student admissions (someone named Robert Marshall) on the school's website and sure enough, that was real too, right there on the bottom of the paper. This was too good to be true, he thought to himself. A letter sent to him by the head of student admissions at USC telling him that they were offering him a scholarship starting almost immediately?

**No way** was this happening to him right now.

Lost in all of the hysteria was the fact that Sam had snuck into his apartment and began to silently tear through his kitchen while he was in his room. He placed the letter back in it's envalope and hid it in his desk; no way was he going to talk to Sam, Carly and Spencer about this now. He figured it'd be best if he let it soak in for a while and find the perfect time to tell them all the great news.

Exiting his room and deciding to go give Carly a visit, Freddie still had no idea that Sam was lurking in his apartment, waiting for the right time to surprise him and/or scare him out of his shoes.

He didn't have to wait long.

**"BOO!"**

Freddie leaped back and nearly out of his skin when he saw the fiesty blonde jump from around the corner and land right in front of him, a huge, mischevious (and incredibly bright) smile on her lips as he clutched his chest and tried to get his heart to stop thumping in his chest like a war drum.

"Hey Fredalupe", she said simply with a chuckle. He glared at her, his hand still gripping his shirt as he took a deep breath, still glaring at her through squinted eyes as he tried to straighten himself out.

"Sam! You nearly scared me half to death! What the heck was that for!"

"Eh, I was bored and I had some news to tell you before I told Carly. And spooking you never gets old, no matter what. What were you doing in your room? Re-arranging your Galaxy Wars dolls?"

"For the last time Sam...they're action figures. And yeah...that's what I was doing. Gotta make sure they're not all dusty and disgusting", he said somewhat hesitantly, hoping she didn't pick up on it. Now was not the time to make the big reveal, and he had to do whatever he could to keep her from poking around his room.

Considering this was Sam though, that was going to be easier said than done.

"And what news do you have to tell me that you couldn't tell Carly about first? I mean, not that I'm glad you came to me first, but usually when you have good news or something gross to share, you go to her first. What's it about?"

A sudden look of frustration crossed Sam's face. Instinctively, Freddie took a step back and watched as his girlfriend kicked his refrigerator, though not nearly as hard as she usually could...he knew by the fact that there wasn't a dent the size of a crater in the door.

"Melanie's coming home for the summer."

"And that makes you want to kick my refrigerator door?"

"Don't start with me Freddie...you know I don't like being around my sister."

This much was true, Freddie mused to himself. But he had never seen her this miffed about her twin sister being around before. Why the change in attitude now? Then it dawned on him...**d'oh**...

"Is this about your mom? Are you afraid that she'll pay more attention to Melanie like she always does?"

Sam gave him a blank stare, followed by the rolling of her eyes. If he wasn't her boyfriend, she said to herself, she'd so have slapped the living daylights out of him with that stupid comment.

"Wow Freddie. You really are as smart as you look", she deadpanned as she brushed a tendril of her curls out of her eye. "Way to make a girl feel even worse about an already bad situation."

"Sam", Freddie began, taking a hold of her hand and gripping it gently in his own. "I'm sorry. I didn't know your sister being home for the summer was going to upset you this much. And I know that you've been making really good progress with your mom..."

He was cut off by her other hand in his face. "Listen, I don't need your pity right now, Freddie. I'm just going to have to be a big girl and suck it up. Whether I like it or not, she's my sister and she'll always be a part of my life in some way. I guess I should just accept that fact."

Freddie let go of Sam's hand and looked at her with wide eyes. He silently thought to himself about how much she was changing before his eyes. A year ago, she'd have never been so...he couldn't find the word. Mature? It seemed like she was becoming more so by the day. Sure, she'd always have her childish quirks and habits, he reasoned silently, but he felt like he had seen her grow up a heck of a lot in such a short amount of time. It warmed his heart to see the girl who tortured him for a living every day when they were younger to become aware that times were changing and she had to change with them. He loved her for it.

"Wow...you don't...you know...feel the need to want to desert Melanie in the middle the woods and see if she'd make it back home in one piece? If she'd even make it back?", he asked, testing the waters to see if Sam would have a typical Sam-like response for a question that involved something rude and inhumane.

"Trust me, Fredward, that's such a tempting thought...but I can't. Pam will be so happy to see her so I've got to be on my best behavior...I'm not about to go back to making my mom's life miserable again. I want this to work", she said somewhat stiffly. Freddie faked a gasp and then chuckled as Sam punched him on the arm as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a hug.

"Did Sam Puckett just admit that she's going to play nice with her sister for the sake of her mother's feelings? Pinch me, I must be dreaming", he said, but then yelped when Sam, indeed, did pinch him. "I was kidding when I said that, Sam!"

"And I'm kidding when I say you're the biggest, dorkiest, dumbest, most unattractive boy in all of Seattle", she said with a laugh as she pecked him on the cheek. "Well, maybe half kidding", she then quickly added.

"You really have a way with words, Sam", he muttered with a smirk as Sam jumped on his back as if ask-demanding a piggy back ride somewhere. "No wonder why I'm so attracted to you", he quickly added.

"Well, what can I say? Mama's hot", she said, smiling that smile that Freddie adored about her so much. "Now, trusty steed, off to Carly's so I can tell her the gut wrenching news! Giddy up!"

They both laughed as Freddie carried Sam across the hall and into Carly's apartment without so much as knocking (which, really, was nothing new for them), and upon entering, the two of them were met with a grumpy looking Carly pouting on the couch as she flipped through the channels on the TV without even noticing her two best friends had arrived. By then, Sam had gotten off Freddie's back and was in her natural habitat of the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge, looking for some kind of food to devour (didn't she _just_ eat?). Freddie waved his hand in front of Carly's face, trying to get her attention, but all he got was an outburst.

**"WHAT!"**, she yelled, her face scrunched up in irritation. But her face softened when she saw that it was Freddie standing over her. "Oh. Hey. Sorry, Freddie. I didn't see you standing there...Sam here too?"

He nodded as he sat down next to her and saw that she had landed on the Mexican dessert channel, which immediately caught Sam's attention as she bum rushed her way over to the couch and nearly shoved the other two occupants off as she started drooling at the sight of foreign desserts being made. "Hi Sam, nice to see you too", Carly mumbled under her breath as she fixed herself.

"So, why so glum?", Freddie asked as he smoothed out his shirt and glanced over at Sam, who was off in her happy place right now, so there was no point in bothering her. At all. He liked living.

"Spencer just got off the phone with my granddad and he said he's coming to visit us for a few weeks...and he said he's going to _'evaluate'_ my living conditions with Spencer while he's here. Ughhhhh", the brunette groaned as she shook her head disapprovingly, looking at Sam for any kind of reaction, but not getting any.

"Man, what is it with you two getting bad news on the same day?", Freddie asked, putting air quotations around 'bad', which earned him a sharp look from Carly as she got up and went to go grab herself some lemonade. But then she raised her eyebrow upon hearing Freddie's words as she poured herself a glass.

"What do you mean, the two of us getting bad news? Sam, is there something you wanna tell me about?"

The blonde didn't take her eyes off the TV, instead flippantly waving off her best friends words as she continued to stare at the sugary treats filling up the screen. "Yeah yeah, Melanie's coming home for the summer, bad news indeed...ooh that taco sundae looks so good...", she murmured, subconsciously rubbing her stomach and licking her lips.

"Mel's coming home for the summer? That's not bad news, that's great!", Carly exclaimed, now cheered up a little bit at the 'good' news, at least to her. "How is that bad news to you, Sam? And don't state the obvious."

"She's worried that her mom's gonna just forget all the progress they've made and pay more attention to Melanie", Freddie interjected, seeing as his girlfriend was still waaaay too busy fantasizing about being in a pool of whipped cream and burritos.

"Ahhh...well that makes sense", Carly murmured as Spencer walked into the living room, a scowl on his face with his phone pressed tightly against his ear. Needless to say, he didn't look too happy with what was being said on the other line.

"You seriously don't know when to quit, do you?...everything is fine here, how would you know!...oh come on, that was almost two years ago...she's still breathing!...oh so now I'm an idiot?...ugh, just go away!", he finally exclaimed as he flipped his phone shut and saw the kids all staring at him in the living room. Which was nothing new for Spencer, by the way. At least this time they didn't have incredulous/stupefied looks on their faces. This time it was concern.

"Granddad again?", Carly asked timidly while Spencer merely sighed and nodded his head. "What's crawled up his pants this time? I don't ever remember him being this determined about getting me out of this house..."

"Look kiddo...don't worry about it right now, alright? Granddad won't be here for another two and a half weeks, so everything is gonna be fine till then. Nothing's gonna change. We're all gonna have fun this summer!", he yelled like the maniac he is. Carly and Freddie smiled at Spencer's enthusiasm while Sam finally tore her eyes away from the television to ask the question of whether they had any taco shells, cherries, refried beans and orange sherbert. Everyone looked at her as if she had three heads, they were so repulsed by that question.

"What? Can't a girl make her own Mexican dessert?", she asked rhetorically, shrugging her shoulders when the three other people in the room shook their heads. "Whatevs. I'm gonna make myself one of those taco shell sherbert explosion things they were just talking about one of these days. And it will be glorious!"

Freddie shook his head and smiled as he reached over and pulled Sam onto his lap, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink at the touch of his hands against her skin. "You gotta stop doing that to me, Freddie", she whispered in his ear before he grinned and nuzzled his head into her mane of curls.

"I can't help it...I like having you around me", he whispered right back, which in turn caused Sam to blush even more. But the happy was soon interrupted by a crazed Spencer...what else was new.

"So, my little teenaged friends, who wants to come to Coach Harmon's office with me? There's some...stuff I wanna discuss with him, and I think it'd help my cause if one of you came with. Or all three of you. You know, so we could like, intimidate him and stuff...", Spencer asked, a somewhat pleading look on his face as he faced the kids. "Sam! Why don't you come?", he said, pleading with the blonde, who almost burst out laughing at how semi-pathetic Spencer looked until Freddie poked her side and made her catch her breath in her throat.

"Why can't I come?", Carly whined. "I mean, I _am_ your sister after all! And I'd like to give that skunk-bag coach of yours a piece of my mind!"

"As much as I'd love you to come and rip Coach Harmon apart, little sister o' mine, now that I think about it...", he said trailing off, looking over at the blonde on the couch sitting in Freddie's lap. "You're weak and girly. Sam would rip his head off without even blinking. It's the truth. I'm sorry. I still love you though", he said seriously, his hands gripping his sister's shoulders. She looked over her brother's shoulders and saw Sam smirking, holding her hands up and falling deeper into Freddie's embrace, acting like she wanted nothing of it. But she was smirking.

"So you're agreeing with him?", Carly asked, while Sam burst out laughing. "Don't act like I can't read your facial expressions, Sam! You're agreeing with him! Whose side are you on here?"

"Oh lighten up, kiddo. I'm sure you could make that turd's ears bleed with the screaming and screeching you'd put him through. But seriously though. I'll go with Spence...I've got the butter sock with me today", she said as she produced said sock filled with butter.

"You carry that thing around with you?", Freddie asked, half amazed and half repulsed. "You know what...nevermind...it's what makes you you", he murmured, leaning in and planting a kiss on Sam's cheek, illiciting a giggle from her.

"Alrighty then, it's settled! Let us go, Sam who loves ham! We'll be back later you two, don't have too much fun while we're gone!", Spencer yelled over his shoulder as he grabbed his coat and exited the apartment, with Sam following him closely behind.

"I'll text you later, Carls. And I'll see you later too, Fredlumps. Groovy Smoothie at around 7:30?"

"I'll be waiting with your already paid for smoothie, demon."

She smiled up at him as she kissed him quickly. "Love you."

He smiled back at her. "Love you too. Now go, don't keep Spencer waiting."

With a nod of the head, Sam was out the door after Spencer, leaving a grumbling Carly and an amused Freddie behind in the apartment. He had to admit, it was always kinda hilarious when she got like this, though he'd never say it out loud for fear she might scream at him till he died. Like he said to himself earlier. He liked living.

"You're not really _that_ mad, are you?", he asked as he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the bar and shined it. Carly sighed, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she swiveled around in her chair to log onto the website.

"No, I'm not", she confessed. "I know Spence just has my best intentions in mind. I'm actually kinda glad I didn't go with him. They'd probably have to lock me up for what I'd do or say to that loser coach of his."

"Has Sam been making you watch kung fu movies with her again?", Freddie asked tersely, taking a bite out of his apple. Carly stifled a small chuckle as she clicked on some of the feedback their many fans left after their last webshow.

"We watched one last night after you left and Spencer went to bed. I got about a half hour in before I saw someone's head literally get kicked off their body...I ran upstairs to my room screaming after that", she said softly, her head hanging low, like she didn't want to admit that little fact.

"Ahh, so that's what I heard before I went to sleep last night", Freddie commented with a grin, while Carly glared at him and playfully shoved him away from her. He ruffled her hair before walking over to the couch and plopping down, flipping through the numerous channels. Just then, a knock was heard on the door, and Carly, thinking it was Sam or Spencer coming back to grab something, called out that the door was open.

Except it wasn't Sam or Spencer.

"Everyone, your lives just got more awesome because **GIBBEH** is here", the boy in question said aloud as he stepped into the apartment, one arm in the air for dramatic effect, the other holding something behind his back. Which Freddie saw, which caused him to spit his apple out, which made his eyes nearly pop out of his sockets when he put two and two together and saw the roses that Gibby was holding.

"Oh, hey Gibby. What's up?", Carly asked without turning around, her focus still on the computer in front of her. When she got no response, she spun around and saw an empty living room before her. "Huh. They must've went upstairs", she commented to herself before she spun back around to look at the computer.

If she only knew...

"Gibby! What the chiz are you doing?"

"What's it look like, Freddie? I'm gonna ask Carly out! Duh!"

All Freddie could do was stare blankly at his peculiar friend. He then face-palmed himself and shook his head, muttering incoherently under his breath. This was going to be harder than he thought. Way harder.

"When I told you to wait, I didn't mean for you to sit by for a week then burst into her apartment and confess your undying love for her with flowers and chocolates! You just don't do that, Gibby! Trust me, I've tried it, it doesn't work."

"But I love her, man! She's the one for me, and there's no way she can deny her feelings for me too. I gotta tell her how I feel before it's too late! And plus, she'll totally dig the roses! They're her favorites!"

"Her favorite type of flower are white lilacs, Gibby."

"I totally knew that!", Gibby exclaimed as he threw the expensive looking roses into the garbage can nearby. Freddie took a deep breath and shut his eyes, grabbing the roses from the can and setting them at his feet. He drew in a deep breath and thought to himself about how this was even possible. A part of him always had it in his head that nobody would ever suddenly just profess their 'love' for Carly like Gibby was about to do. But then again, the other part of him that did didn't expect that person to be Gibby, of all people.

Life though, he had figured out over the past few months, worked in incredibly weird and mysterious ways. Like right now.

"Dude...take it from me, someone who spent years pining after Carly's affections...you can't just walk into that apartment and tell her that you love her. It just doesn't work like that."

"But you did that numerous times and thought it'd work every time."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It still won't work. You've got to take your time with these sort of things, man."

"Aww dude, I don't wanna wait like, forty years like you and Sam did to admit your feelings for each other!"

Smiling to himself, Freddie placed his hand on Gibby's shoulder and pulled his odd friend into a half hug, the two of them staring at the door of Carly's apartment as if it were some threshold to a magical world filled with bunnies and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on bread without the crusts. Freddie then promptly shuddered and felt a shiver go up his spine.

He really needed to stop hanging out over at Gibby's house.

"Trust me, Gib...if there's anyone who knows what it's like to 'love' Carly", he started, using his free hand to put air quotes around 'love', "It's me. Will you listen to me and let me help you out with Carls?"

Gibby thought this offer over for a moment, scratching his chin, clearly deep in thought.

"I'll do it!"

Or not.

"Alright my friend...everything starts now. Are you ready?", Freddie asked, getting a nod of the head from Gibby. "Ok then. Lets start over...and **NOT** admit your feelings within the first five minutes of hanging out in there. Now c'mon, she's probably wondering where the heck we both are."

"I love this", was all Gibby said as they walked into the apartment, and for a few seconds, Freddie thought that helping Gibby with slowly admitting how he felt for his best friend was actually going to work.

"Hey Carly...you're looking mighty fine today."

Well, it lasted longer than he thought...

* * *

Music softly played from the stereo as Sam and Spencer drove quietly to Coach Harmon's office located in downtown Seattle. Neither one of them had said much since they got into the car and began the trek, opting to enjoy the music and the urban scenery that surrounded them. What was there to really talk about? Everything that could've been talked about had been covered in the apartment through words or actions before they left. The two of them made only small comments here and there, often about some weirdo on the street or how good a chili dog from a vendor would be right about now. When Spencer came to a stop at a light, the song on the radio made Sam sigh contentedly, which didn't go unnoticed by the elder Shay sibling.

As the car moved forward again, Sam turned to look out the window at the blue skies overhead, whispering the words of the one song that she figured would always be a part of her life from the moment she heard it; "Running Away" by AM.

_"I don't know if I'm gonna change, wasting time and another day"_, she sang softly to herself, not knowing that Spencer was overhearing her.

"You alright, kiddo?", he asked as the song came to an end. Sam whipped her head around, a little peturbed that Spencer had heard her sing, nevermind the fact that it was the song that defined how she fell in love with Freddie in the first place. She did not want him hearing her sing at all. Especially **that** song.

"Uh..yeah? Why wouldn't I be? I'm totally fine, Spence. Just can't wait to brain that chizzy coach of yours with my butter sock!", she said, trying to sound tough but failing miserably. Spencer gave her a knowing look and grinned as he ruffled her crazy blonde curls.

"You were thinkin' about Freddie again, weren't ya?"

"Did I make it that obvious?"

Spencer chuckled as he came to another red light. "You two are so cute together it's almost sickening."

Sam looked over at Spencer and frowned, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Sickening? Way to be a jerk there, Spence."

"Ahh I'm just kidding around with you, ya little love-sick monster, no need to beat me up with your butter sock...but in all seriousness though, how are you and Fredman doing? Haven't really seen you two around lately, and whenever I do, you two are always leaving and doing something together...so how are you two?", he asked a little too eagerly for Sam's tastes. But that was always going to be one of Spencer's M.O.'s.

"We're doing great, Spence...this is the happiest I've been in a long, long time. I've got a great boyfriend...my mother actually knows I exist now...the show reached a million viewers last week...I'm gonna be a senior in a few months...I really have nothing to complain about. Well...nevermind."

Spencer raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in mood. Wasn't she just so happy like, five seconds ago? "Something else on your mind, Sam?"

"It's nothing, really. And trying to tickle the answer out of me isn't going to work like it does with you, so don't even bother with that, ok?"

"So you don't wanna tell me what's bothering you then."

"Nope, it's nothing, Spence. Don't worry about it."

"I'll stop buying that special Alaskan smoked ham you love so much."

"Melanie's coming home for the summer and I'm afraid that my mother's going to ignore me in favor of her again despite all the progress we've made in fixing our relationship."

Spencer smiled despite himself. He knew that he'd weasel the answer out of her by threatening to withhold one of her favorite meat products. It worked almost every time she got like this.

"See Sam, was that so hard?"

"You're just lucky I really like that Alaskan ham", she grumbled, which got Spencer to laugh as he turned onto a street a few blocks away from the practice grounds. He saw that Sam was back to staring out the window again, up at the skies, absent-mindedly twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. He knew that she didn't really feel like talking about it right now (or ever), but he was going to see what he could do anyway. He really had been trying to focus on becoming more mature and, well, growing up. It just never happened. Now, he figured, would be a good time to start.

"Hey...Sammy, listen. I know that you have a hard time talking about your feelings with someone other than Carly or Freddie now...but...I just want you to know that I'll always listen to you if you need someone to talk to. And I'll always be around when you need help, or, you know...need someone to be around."

She turned to face him and stared at him for a few seconds with the weirdest look on her face, like she couldn't just believe what he just said. Was he serious? His face looked like he was serious. Sam couldn't remember the last time that Spencer had acted like this...but he didn't look like he was acting. He gave her a simple little smile and a shrug of the shoulder before he turned his attention back to the road; the practice facility was soon approaching. But she knew that she couldn't go into an ass kicking with her mind so clouded with...whatever it was that her mind was clouded with. When they pulled into the lot and parked, Spencer motioned for her to follow him into the offices, but she didn't get out of the car immediately. When she did, she stopped at the front of the car, causing Spencer to turn around and walk back to her.

"What's up, Sam? We're here...time to go talk to Coach Harmon."

"Yeah...but before we go in there and I bludgeon him into a coma...were you serious back there? When you said all that stuff about listening if I needed someone to talk to and always being around?"

"Well...yeah. I know that you trust Carly a whole lot and that the two of you are practically sisters. And you're dating Freddie now so obviously you trust in him a great deal with any and everything. I just want you to know that you can trust me with anything too."

"Really?"

"Really. I'm twenty seven...gonna be twenty eight soon...before I know it, you all will be hitting twenty one and I'll be at the big 3-0. I can't act the way I've acted all the time anymore...sure, don't get me wrong, I'll still be a crazy and fun-loving dude...but I've gotta grow up and really start taking care of Carly...and you and Freddie, by proxy, since you two never seem to leave my home. I've gotta be...I've just gotta be there for you all, y'know?"

Sam looked up into Spencer's eyes and saw the sincerity there. She hadn't seen anything like that from him in a long, long time. And, truth be told, it was nice to see him not acting all zany and goofy like he always did. It was rather...refreshing, she thought, to see a gentler, more mature side of the elder Shay. And he sounded like he really meant what he was saying (for once). So when he reached out for a hug and she gave him one, it felt like a really good bonding moment. Sam silently laughed to herself at that.

She had been having a lot of those lately. And who knew?

Maybe she'd find time to include her sister in there too.


End file.
